


Things Better Left Unsaid

by green_and_gold



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AFAB reader - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempt at no Y/N, Bad Pick-Up Lines, F/M, LOTS of social drinking, Language, Older!Sirius, Pining, Post-War, Romantic Comedy, Self Indulgent AF but I hope you enjoy too, Sexual Themes, Short!Reader, Social drinking, Wingman!Severus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25759669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/green_and_gold/pseuds/green_and_gold
Summary: A garden party you feel you have no business being at. Stuck at a table across from the man you’ve fallen hopelessly for and his date, a woman who makes you want to claw your eyes out. Thankfully, with the help of your best friend, everyone may end up getting out of this event alive.However, a wrench gets thrown into your plans when you find yourself receiving help from an unlikely source. Will he help you recapture the attention of the man you so desperately crave? Or will he end up stealing your heart for himself?The choice, dear reader, is yours.
Relationships: Nymphadora Tonks/Remus Lupin, Severus Snape/Reader, Severus Snape/You, Sirius Black/Reader, Sirius Black/You
Comments: 62
Kudos: 168





	1. Part I

You were not looking forward to the Weasley’s annual garden party. It was something they started doing every year after the second war to celebrate the victory of the light side along with the fact that everyone came out unscathed. Being a part of the generation that went to school in between the two wars, you always felt like a little bit of an outsider and had come up with an excuse year after year to miss the gathering. This year, however, your best friend and former housemate, Nymphadora Tonks, decided that she’d finally had enough.

“Would you just get over yourself already? Everyone would be delighted to see you, and you know it,” she exclaimed over tea one afternoon.

You fiddled with the teaspoon that rested in your cup, giving it a couple of turns in the milky liquid.

“I’m serious this time, Nymphie. I really do have other mat—“

“Cut the bullshit! I know you love to practice your excuses on me, but I know the truth, and I’m tired of covering for you when people ask. Especially when half the time your excuses are crap!”

It was a week to the next party, and you invited her out to a cafe to break the news in the hopes that a public setting might quiet her reactions. You should have known that effort was futile. You felt your ears go hot, darting your eyes around to see if anyone had been disturbed by her outburst. Satisfied that no one seemed to be bothered, you turned back only to find her hair a flaming red color.

Flinching back, you pleaded with her. “Nymphie, please...”

“You don’t get to call me that when I’m mad at you.”

You sighed in defeat. Being two years younger than the irate woman across from you meant that when you were sorted into Hufflepuff your first year and she immediately took you under her wing, you would forever looked up to her like an older sister. Of course, this familial feeling filled you with an incredible amount of guilt whenever you let her down. The placating side of you, the one that had you bending over backwards to please others, sometimes to your own detriment, wanted you to break down and agree to go. But you had an equally stubborn and self-deprecating side, and this one won out every time.

“I’m sorry. Like you said, you know the truth. You know why I don’t feel comfortable showing up there. I have no reason to celebrate. I didn’t do any—“

“You say you didn’t do anything one more time, and I really will get mad.”

You huffed in response, and brought the teacup up to your lips to take a sip. “It’s true, though. It was just a case of being in the right place at the right time.”

“It means so much more than you could have ever imagined that you were where you were that night.”

“Oh yeah,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes. “Hiding away in the rubble, hoping that no one would find me. Super meaningful, indeed. I was a coward through and through, and I don’t deserve to be at that party.”

“Being scared doesn’t make you a coward!” This shout did garner a few looks, and you bounced your hands at her, silently asking for her to lower her voice. She did, continuing. “And if you weren’t hiding there, you wouldn’t have been able to save Remus.”

The intensity in her eyes burned through you, and you coughed in embarrassment, darting your eyes to the window on your left. You remembered that night vividly as if the memory were seared into your brain. Curled into a ball with your hands over your head, huddling by a giant pile of debris, crying as the sounds of a duel neared ever closer. You quietly begged and begged that the two duelers wouldn’t stumble over you, where you would inevitably be caught in the crossfire. A familiar shout had you peeking around the broken pillar you were sitting behind, and when you realized exactly who it was that was locked in deadly magical combat, all you saw was red.

“I hardly did any saving. I just hit his attacker in the head with a loose brick. Wasn’t even enough to take him down.”

“It was enough to incapacitate the bastard. Remus told me that he knew he had been fighting a losing battle, and if it weren’t for you coming out of the shadows with a war cry like a mandrake and brandishing that brick, he would never been able to gain the upper hand.”

“Yeah, but—“

A firm hand placed over yours brought your attention back to her, and you were floored at the somber look that was plastered on her face. “If it hadn’t been for _you_ , Teddy wouldn’t have his father. So, yeah, I think you did plenty of saving in my book.”

Finding it hard to fight with that logic, you conceded with a sigh. She gave your hand a couple pats before grabbing her mug and taking a long sip. You followed suit, suddenly feeling parched.

“Now,” she started, the hairs on the back of your neck raising with the smirk that started to form. “Let’s talk about why you’re _really_ avoiding going to the party this year.”

The sip you were in the middle of swallowing suddenly felt as though it doubled in volume, and you struggled to gulp it down. You slammed your teacup back into its saucer, some of the contents sloshing over the sides and onto your fingertips. “I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, no? So you’re saying that my ruggedly handsome cousin has _nothing_ to do with why you’re so desperately trying to come up with some half-ass excuse to miss the festivities?”

“I don’t see how he has anything to do with this. It’s not as though I don’t see him on a daily basis, living in his house and all.”

She hummed. “Yeah, but it’s not the seeing him that gets to you, is it? It’s well-known by now that Sirius loves to use this party as an excuse to get the current flavor of-the-week nice and buzzed before he has his wicked way with her.”

You stared blankly at her. “Did you miss the part where I said I lived with him? That’s like a monthly occurrence in the Black household. I keep telling him to install a revolving door—might make it easier in the long run.”

“He did mention you said something about that,” she laughed. “Had no idea what you were talking about, and honestly neither do I, but it sounds like he should look into it.”

The corner of your mouth lifted in a mock smile, but it dropped just as quickly. Needing something to do with yourself you picked up your fork and pushed around the last few bits of strawberry shortcake that sat on the small plate in front of you. She watched as you did this, a thoughtful look upon her face.

“Although...” Your grip tightened on the fork in preparation for what you knew was coming. “He may not need it anymore what with that new witch that’s been hanging around these last couple of months. What was her name again? Delia? Lydia?”

“Delilah,” you ground out.

“Ah, yes, dear old Delilah. How is she doing, by the way? I heard her nightly romps with Sirius have been poorly affecting her work. So much so that he’s even complained to me she’s put them on hold so she can finally get a good night’s sleep! Can you believe that?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care!” You flung your hands up in exasperation, dropping the fork in the process, and fell back into your seat, crossing your arms over your chest with a huff. Each aggravating word pierced into your chest like a knife, and you wished desperately for her to stop talking.

And there it was. She had caught you hook, line, and sinker, and she absolutely knew it if her growing grin was anything to go by. At her smile, you shot her a murderous glare, and she found herself immensely grateful that you met in the cafe after all. She sighed softly, addressing you in a tone just as soft.

“Why don’t you just tell him?”

“And risk making myself looking like a fool in front of him? Fat chance!” You scoffed, harshly wiping away a stray tear that threatened to fall. “Besides, he seems truly happy for the first time in years, and I don’t want to ruin that by selfishly confessing my feelings.”

“Maybe you need to be selfish for once.”

“Come on, Nymphie, don’t start with this, please.”

“Don’t ‘Nymphie’ me, I’m still upset with you.” She narrowed her eyes at you while you rolled yours. “I’m not kidding! You and I both know that you would be a much better match for Sirius than that tart! And if he can’t see that, then maybe he doesn’t deserve you anyway!”

You twisted your lips in distaste. “Just because we don’t like her doesn’t mean we have to resort to name calling.”

“Trust me, the name is quite fitting. You don’t know half the shit they get up to in that bed.” She shivered at the thought. You squeezed your eyes shut, flinching in pain. She had the decency to look properly abashed. “Sorry.”

You waved your hand at her apology, in turn waving away the idea of Sirius and Delilah doing...things. “How do you know so much about your cousin’s sex life anyway?”

She stuck her tongue out, making a noise of disgust. “Trust me, it’s not like I went asking. It sort of just happened one night after drinking. He started to confide in me about—“ She suddenly cut herself off, as if she were afraid she had said too much, before continuing. “—something. After that, I suppose I became his confidante, of sorts.”

You chose to ignore her slip of the tongue. “Can’t say I’m envious.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “At least I just get the R-rated story version. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have to actually hear it.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Shit, sorry, sorry.”

The deadly look you directed at her melted into a teasing one. “It’s okay. I learned to perfect all the silencing charms I could a long time ago. Harry on the other hand....that poor boy hears way more than he ever signed up for every time he stays over.”

You and Nymphadora burst into giggles at the young man’s plight. Sensing that you were in a slightly better mood, she tried asking again. “Will you please come to the party this year? Everyone misses you.”

And then she did something that she only pulls out for the most direst of situations. She gave you literal puppy dog eyes.

“Fine,” you sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

* * *

This was a bad idea. This was a bad, bad, _bad_ idea. You were standing in front of your mirror on the morning of the party, freshly showered and fully panicking. One towel was wrapped around your body while another held your hair atop your head. Staring at yourself, you sighed deeply.

I can’t do this, you thought for the fifth time that morning. There’s no way this is going to end well. Frowning at yourself in the mirror, you sighed again. This is for you, Nymphie. You owe me one.

You flipped your body forward, shaking out your hair from the towel. You were in the middle of vigorously drying your hair when a girlish giggle floated its way from down the hall and through the cracks of your door. What was _she_ doing here? Didn’t she say she was going to meet him at the party?

You fell back into your bed, not caring that your damp hair was getting your bedsheets wet. You pressed the towel you were using to dry your hair against your face in an effort to quiet the groan that pushed passed your lips. Laying there in your bed, you couldn’t help but torture yourself, listening in as the giggles grew in frequency and pitch. Each one was akin to a punch to your resolve, and you had no problem letting it beat you into submitting to the desire of calling the whole thing off. The giggling seemed to grow louder and louder until it almost felt like they were right outside your door. You turned on your side, pressing your palms against your ears to try and quiet them.

Suddenly, you heard two quick raps on your door. You said nothing, pulling your hands away to see if you had just been hearing things. After a moment, you heard the gentle calling of your name. You opened your mouth to respond but was swiftly cut off by more obnoxious tittering.

“Darling, perhaps she’s still asleep? You did tell me how fond she was of her beauty rest.”

Your heart hurt. Had he really said something like that?

There was spluttering before he hastily whispered, “I don’t believe that’s how I phrased it, exactly, but who doesn’t enjoy a lie-in or two? Moreover, I know she’s already awake. It’s not been but 15 minutes since she told me she was headed upstairs to get ready.”

Oh yes, you remember. You and Sirius had been lounging about in the kitchen, chatting about nothing over your cooling cups of coffee. You were mulling over how you were going to break the news about attending the party but couldn’t quite find the courage. Instead, you teased him about being late as you knew he required at least two hours to fully preen himself. He glared at you playfully before his face went soft, claiming he was going to miss having you around for the day. At his despondency, you couldn’t help but blurt out that you were, in fact, able to attend this year.

His eyes lit up with such joy that even though you had regretted saying them as soon as they had come out, you wouldn’t take the words back for anything in the world. He immediately jumped up from his chair and rushed you up the stairs, declaring that if he took two hours then you took at least twice as long, and you both needed to get ready as soon as possible if the two of you were going to make it on time.

You paused on the steps and looked back at him curiously. You asked if Delilah was still coming, attempting to school your features into a neutral expression. He answered with a lopsided grin, informing you that she would be meeting him there. You nodded stiffly, hurrying up the stairs and into your shower where you released a couple of quiet sobs from your system so that you could attack today with a bright face.

And now, here you were. Sprawled across your bed, fresh tears trailing down your face, and desperately wishing you had not said a damn thing.

He called your name again. You turned to face the door, a shout of ‘I’m not feeling well. Go on without me!’ threatening to fall from your lips. The utter glee he had on his face when you said you were going flashed through your mind and dampened the urge to chicken out, so you again stayed silent.

There was more whispering behind the door, this time you couldn’t hear, before you heard the sound of footsteps heading back down the stairs. A gust of air left you in a breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding. You curled into an even tighter ball, burrowing impossibly further into the towel that was wrapped around your face and head.

“Okay, that’s it. I’m coming in!” A brief exclamation, and the unmistakable sound of your doorknob turning was all the warning you had.

You leaped from the bed like a bolt of lighting, tossing the towel away from your head, and ran to the door to lean your weight on it, preventing it from opening any further than a crack. The towel wrapped around your body started to slip, and you held it up with a tight fist, while the other moved to hold onto the edge of the doorframe.

“Wait, I’m not decent!” The door was pushed open a few inches more, sliding you along with it. Your fingertips turned red with the force you used to hold on. “Sirius!”

“Oh relax! I’m just trying to get through the barrier of the silencing charm. I promise not to open the door any further than this.”

Your body flushed in simultaneous relief and embarrassment. Relief that he didn’t realize you had intentionally been ignoring him, and embarrassment in the fact that he must have knocked on your door enough times to know that you frequently placed silencing charms. You craned your neck over your left shoulder to peer through the space created by the now ajar door. Piercing blue eyes met your gaze, looking down at you with concern swimming in them.

“There you are. You almost ready?”

You maneuvered your body to face the door, leaning over so that you were only visible from the shoulders up. You avoided his eyes as you answered in a low voice. “Yeah, I don’t know if I’m going anymore.”

You were suddenly stumbling backwards as the door was thrust open. You pulled the towel tightly around you, squawking in indignation. “Sirius! You promised you wouldn’t come in!”

“Get your panties out of a twist, sweetheart. I’m not looking.” Indeed he wasn’t. He held a hand up to his firmly shut eyes, and you couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous he looked. You told him so. “I can very well take my hand away if it amuses you that much.”

“Don’t you dare!”

He hooked his hand into the bend of his other arm in a pseudo half-crossed manner. “What is this about you not going anymore?”

You would have laughed if you didn’t feel so guilty at the hurt in his voice. “I...suddenly felt ill. I’d been debating whether or not I felt well enough to go when you came bursting through.”

It wasn’t technically a lie. The thought of watching Sirius and Delilah make faces at each other all day certainly had your stomach turning. You took a step back when he swung his free arm out towards you. “Uh, what are you doing?”

“I’m trying to check your temperature. Now come here so I can feel your forehead.”

You squeaked in panic when he took two unsteady steps forward. You held a hand out to stop him, pushing back on his shoulder and ducking your head out of the way of his roaming hand. “Really, there’s no need for that!”

“But you were fine just a moment ago! It must be serious if it happened so quickly!”

You kept pushing at him, actually managing to make him retreat a few steps back into the hallway. Leaning away from his hand was getting you nowhere, so you stepped in closer to him, not leaving enough space for his arm to sneak in between you and up to your forehead.

“And I’m seriously telling you it’s fine!”

“Sirius, dear, Nymphadora and Remus are here!”

The sound of Delilah’s voice calling up the steps froze the both of you in your tracks. Your heart pounded against your chest as you wondered what picture the two of you made if she were to come up and see for herself. You were both breathing heavily from exertion, your face was flushed from embarrassment, and you were mere inches from him covered in nothing but a towel that was held up merely by the force of your own grip.

“Tonks is fine, thanks,” you heard your friend correct smarmily. The stairs creaked as someone ascended them, the sound abruptly stopping as the person paused at the top. “Mind explaining why it looks like you’re accosting my scantily towel-clad friend, oh cousin of mine?”

His head swiveled towards her, eyes still dutifully covered by his hand. He nodded down at you accusingly. “She said she wasn’t coming anymore because she wasn’t feeling well. I just wanted to make sure she was alright.” He paused, head tilting to the side. “Wait, did you say she was just in a towel?”

He removed his hand from his face, blearily looking down at you as his eyes adjusted to the light. His eyes widened in shock as he registered that you were, in fact, standing in front him in, quite possibly, the smallest towel he had ever seen. It barely passed the tops of your thighs, highlighting your short legs in a way that made them seem like they went on for miles. He gulped when he noticed that the only thing keeping him from seeing anything else was the bunch of material that you held firmly in your small grasp. The last thing he saw was how the apples of your cheeks went bright red before he was filled with an armful of you as you slapped your free hand over his face, blinding him once more.

“Quit staring!”

Your face felt so hot you could swear steam was coming out of your ears. You didn’t miss the way Sirius’ eyes roamed over your body, and you would be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t like it. You just wish it hadn’t been while his cousin was standing there watching the two of you and his gal pal—you shuddered at the thought—was sitting downstairs waiting for him.

“I’m sorry, but did he say that you weren’t coming anymore?”

The barely concealed rage you heard in her tone was frightening. Sparing a peek at her out of the corner of your eye, you saw as the roots of her hair started to bleed a deep red color. You let out a small, ‘eep,’ before turning tail and slamming the door behind you, sequestering yourself in your room.

She stalked toward your door, briefly taking a moment to tell a still frozen Sirius to head to the party without you guys and that she’d make sure you attended even if it killed her, and not-so-gently pushed him towards the stairs, before blasting your door open with a wave of her wand.

She found you laying face down on your bed, a pillow being pressed over your head by your hands. She flopped down on her back next to you, turning her head in your direction.

“What’s going on with you?”

“I can’t do this, Nymphie!” Your voice was muffled by the pillow, but she managed to get the gist of what you were saying.

“Look, come for a little bit. For me? I promise we can spend the whole time getting tipsy and talking about how fat and old everyone has gotten.”

She smiled at the barely audible giggle you let out. You lifted a corner of the pillow so that your words came out clearly. “Oh please. Everyone is just as young and beautiful as the last time I saw them.”

She scrunched her face up in mock contemplation. “Hmm, yeah, I suppose we are.”

You rolled your eyes and laughed again, letting the pillow fall back over your face with a sigh. “It all sounds wonderful, Nymphie, really. But I _can’t_ sit there and pretend I’m okay as I watch him fawn all day over _her_. It hurts too much.”

An empathetic look passed over her as she looked at your pillow covered head. “I know, babe, but you can’t let that dictate whether or not you have a good time. And who knows? You might actually find yourself getting to know and possibly end up liking her.”

You grunted in response.

She scoffed. “Yeah, I know. Fat chance, right? Crazier things have happened, though.”

You remained silent, tucking your hands under the pillow to cradle your face that had become wet with tears. You sniffled quietly, hoping that the pillow would be enough to block out the sound. The bed dipped next to you, and your body shifted into the small divot where your hip hit a hand. Your vision was suddenly awashed with light as the pillow was ripped from atop your head, and you blinked up at Nymphadora who was looking down at you, tense.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

You played dumb. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “Not this time. Tell me the truth, _now_.”

You crossed your hands under your chin, resting your head upon them to look straight ahead at your headboard. “Do you remember how we became friends?”

“I don’t see how that—“

“Just answer me. Do you remember, yes or no?”

“Of course I remember. You had just been sorted into Hufflepuff, and decided to plop yourself into the seat right next to me. You were bright-eyed and so innocent, and you immediately endeared yourself to me by complimenting my hair. After that, I knew we were going to be—“

“No, no. That’s how we first _met_. I’m asking if you remember how we became _friends_.”

You could tell you were starting to aggravate her by the way she huffed, but it was of the utmost importance that she recalled what you wanted her to. If not, then she would never understand how much pain you were truly in.

You remembered the first time you met Delilah as clearly as if it were yesterday. You were in your first year and had decided to stay in the castle for Christmas. It wasn’t that you weren’t welcome back home, but being a muggle-born it was your first magical holiday, and you wanted to spend it surrounded by all your new magical friends. By the time you learned that everyone you thought you would be spending your holiday with was actually going home, it was too late to change your mind. Devastated but undeterred, you walked with your friends to the train station, hoping to send them off with a bright smile.

It was there you met Delilah Primwood for the first time. You were waving at your friends through the window as they settled themselves into the nearby compartment when the 6th-year Ravenclaw blew by in front of you, knocking you back onto the ground. She scoffed down her nose at you, brushing off invisible specks of dust from the front of her robes. Her friends trailed behind her, sneering at you as they passed, not bothering to lend a hand.

“How pathetic,” she had said, smirking at you. “Poor thing has no one to spend the holidays with. Her family clearly doesn’t want her around and not one of her so-called friends stayed with her. Even out of pity.”

Your eyes burned with confused tears. You didn’t even know this person, why was she being so mean to you? Because you happened to be in her way? It wasn’t your fault she didn’t look where she was walking. You roughly brushed away the tears that fell down your cheeks, still shocked silent.

“HEY!” A loud, commanding voice shouted. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but that’s _my_ _friend_ you’re talking about, and I, for one, can’t wait to spend the holidays with her!”

You turned to see who had come to your rescue, knowing full well that everyone you knew was already on the train and definitely not staying, and was shocked to see the girl whose bright pink hair you complimented on your first day. Shocked, not because she was sticking up for you —you were housemates, after all, and somewhat acquaintances—but because that lovely pink hair was now a flaming red as she stalked towards you.

She pulled you to your feet and wrapped an arm around your shoulders, looking down at you with a wide smile. “Isn’t that right?”

Struck speechless by the sudden turn of events, all you could do was nod. She nodded once in affirmation, looking back at the other girls with a condescending grin.

Delilah rolled her eyes with a scoff and hopped on the train behind her friends, departing with a half-hearted, “Whatever.”

You did end up spending the whole holiday with your savior. And the rest, as they say, was history. Though you never figured out why Delilah had such an issue with you, you made sure to find out who she was and avoid her at all costs. Which brings you back to now, where Nymphadora had her head tilted in contemplation.

“Now that I think about it, are you talking about _when—no._ _No way_. Please tell me Sirius isn’t dating that...that _bitch_?!”

The ferocity in her voice was clear. You squeezed your eyes shut against the fresh wave of pain. “The very same.”

“No wonder you’ve been so affected by this whole thing. Not only is this the longest he’s ever dated anyone, but for it to be _her_ of all people? Ugh, I’d be hiding out in my room if I were you, too. Do you think she remembers you?”

You shook your head vehemently. In fact, you were one hundred percent certain that she didn’t as she hadn’t even seen you yet. The first night Sirius brought her home, you managed to catch her reflection in the kitchen window, and, as you had never forgotten her face, immediately ran to your room. Ever since then, any time you knew she was coming by, you made yourself scarce like it was your job in fear of being faced with that pain again.

Even if she _had_ met you by now, you weren’t sure if she _would_ remember you, and that thought hurt the most. It was a horrible expreience you would never forget until the end of your days, and the idea that it was nothing more than a normal day for her? That was something you couldn’t bear to think about.

Nymphadora hopped up from the bed in determination, shifting you side to side in the process. The towel was ripped from your body, exposing you to the cold draft. You curled into yourself, grabbing at your chest and waist in an attempt to keep some modicum of modesty. “Nymphie!”

She rolled her eyes, stalking into your closet. “Please, we have the same parts, honey. Get over it.”

“Still!”

She came back from the wardrobe, an outfit folded over one arm and a pair of shoes in the other. You weren’t a fan of the plotting grin that was spreading over her lips. “Well, if that witch doesn’t remember you, we’ll make sure as shit she never forgets you.”


	2. Part II

You shifted again, fiddling with the hem of your shirt for the umpteenth time. You pulled it down, attempting to cover more than two inches below your bra line, before Nymphadora smacked your hands away.

“Stop fidgeting or I’ll make it even shorter.”

“I hardly think this is appropriate attire for a garden party, Nymphie. I look ridiculous!”

You were wearing a white, satin crop top emblazoned with bright, yellow sunflowers. It was one of those that had elastic on both the neckline and the hem, pulling it close to your torso. Neckline was an understatement you thought as one hand pulled it up while the other tugged on the bottom. It sat snugly just beneath your collarbone, creating an off-the-shoulder look. It was a little slip of a shirt you had bought on a whim, and you deeply regretted ever adding it to your cart in the first place.

For bottoms, you wore low-waisted, light denim skinny jeans that accentuated the curve of your hips and the slight hourglass figure you usually hid under loose shirts and sweaters. It also perfectly showcased the ring in your belly button—a simple blue gem from which a small star and moon hung low on two delicate chains. Another whim purchase, and if a certain someone happened to notice that the blue matched their particular eye shade, well, you’d cross that bridge if you got to it. On your feet you wore black, lace-up flats, showing off your freshly painted white toes. Throwing a simple, leather purse over your shoulder, your outfit was complete.

“Nonsense,” she said, pushing a pair of mirrored sunglasses onto your face and up into your hair. “You, my friend, look _hot_.”

She stepped back with a wink, admiring her work. “Damn, I’m a genius!”

You pulled at your shirt again. With a frown she waved her wand at you. “There. That should keep it in place. Now, leave it alone!”

Looking at yourself in the mirror, you cried out once more. “I’m too old to be wearing things like this, Nymphie. Please let me change into something a little less revealing, at least.”

“Hah! You’re barely 30! If you think you’re old, then what does that make me? Don’t answer that. Besides, if you really thought you were too old you wouldn’t have bought it in the first place!”

You pinned her with a look. “That’s not the—“

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m right, you’re hot, now let’s go already!”

The hooking of her arm into yours was the only warning you received before you felt the familiar tug of apparition. With a ‘pop’ the two of you were now standing at the edge of the Burrow’s sprawling yard. You doubled over, resting your hands on your knees as you took deep breaths to quell the nausea broiling in the pit of your stomach. A comforting hand was placed on your back, rubbing small circles.

“You all right?”

“Yeah, thanks. I always feel a little sick after if I haven’t done it in a while. Give me a couple of moments, I should be good.”

She rubbed your back for a couple more seconds before leaning over. “Hey, I’m gonna go see where Remus and Teddy have gone off to. Do you mind waiting here for a moment while I go check up on them? I promise I’ll just be a mo’.”

You waved her off, assuring her that you’d be just fine. Straightening up, you watched as she disappeared into the throng of people who had been scurrying about in front of you. You realized that she had apparated you by the catering tent in an effort to keep your arrival low key, and you made a mental note to thank her later. You watched as workers fretted to and fro, various trays of food floating around them. They walked over to the tent when their trays were empty, piled more food onto them, and walked back out to offer it to the guests. The sheer amount of people that food was feeding was something you could hardly imagine, and you found yourself in need of a drink.

Spotting a young wizard carrying a tray with one lone glass on it, you made a beeline for him. “Excuse me? Hi, hello!”

He turned to face you, offering up the drink. “Good morning, miss. Would you care for a mimosa?”

“Yeah, thanks.” You brought it up to your lips, and with three big gulps you drained the entire flute, slapping it back down onto the tray. “Goodness, I needed that.”

Missing the wide-eyed look he was sending your way you shoved your hand into your purse and rifled around, catching his name tag out of the corner of your eye as you did so.

“Altair, is it?” His nod barely registered before you continued. “Great, Altair, couple of things for me, please? First, drop the formalities.” You gave him your name with an offhand comment about how you’ll be seeing plenty of each other throughout the day, so he might as well know it. “And secondly,” you wrapped your hand around what you had been searching for with a soft ‘aha,’ before retracting and opening it over the tray, dropping a few galleons onto its shiny surface. “Whatever you do, make sure you keep these coming. You got it?”

His eyebrows flew to his forehead, and he regarded you with a curious look. “Not good with parties?”

“You could say that.”

“Then I suppose I better go grab you another one. Be back in a jiffy!”

He departed with a smile, leaving you to your own devices once more. Spotting an out of the way alcove a few feet away, you started to make your way towards it when you heard your name being called. It was a female voice, so it wasn’t Altair coming back with another mimosa, but it didn’t sound like Nymphie, either. You heard your name again before you were suddenly wrapped up in a pair of shawl-covered arms and pressed tightly against a plump chest.

“My dear, it’s so lovely to see you! Everyone was absolutely ecstatic to hear you could make it this year!”

Lips mushed against her shoulder, you managed to get out a, “Hello to you, too, Mrs. Weasley.”

She pulled back to look down at you, a crease between her brows. “Oh, nonsense with that ‘Mrs. Weasley’ business. I’ve told you time and time again to call me Molly, yes?”

“Er, yes but—“

“Well then?” The look on her face said she would brook no argument, and with a flush to your cheeks you conceded.

“I—okay...Molly.”

She smiled brightly and brought her hands up to cradle your face. “Good girl. Now, let’s get you to the others, shall we?”

You opened your mouth, but had no time to interject as she whisked your hand up in a firm grip and led you towards the others. For as stout of a woman as she was, she had the force of a hundred men, and you couldn’t help but stumble along behind her. After a few moments of being tugged, you finally arrived at the main area where the party was being held.

There were large, round tables scattered about the yard dressed with enough settings to sit eight people each. A square, white tent top floated above each table, providing shade from the sun as well as protection from any passing storms. Vines of ivy twined with small, round bulbs covered the tent tops, dropping down at the corners to turn each one into a mini pagoda. A large area of grass was sectioned off to create a dance floor, complete with a floating disco ball and a large speaker system. It was all beautifully set up, and your palms were sweating with how much you wanted to run away from it all.

So busy taking in the surroundings, you hardly realized when Molly dragged you to a nearby table and pushed you into a seat. “Have a seat and relax! I’ll have someone come by shortly with some food for you.”

“Oh no, Molly, that’s okay. I’m really not that—“ She was already gone, flitting off to greet other guests. “—hungry.”

A sigh passed your lips, and you had a sinking feeling that you would be doing that a lot today. A white stock card with your name on it sat on top of the set of dishes in front of you. You reached out to pick it up, but it suddenly glowed a bright gold before disintegrating into nothingness. Eyes darting around the table to see if any of the other cards had disappeared, you noticed the only one missing belonged to whomever sat directly to your right. Shifting in your seat, you were shocked to see someone sitting there. You couldn’t see who it was, as they were holding a large newspaper in front of them. But you could tell by the firm-looking hands that gripped the paper and the long, crossed legs angled in your direction that it was a man.

You tapped the tabletop twice with your pointer nail. Sliding the strap of your purse down your arm and onto the back of the chair, you turned towards your table mate. You bit the inside of your cheek. Even though their entire demeanor screamed, ‘don’t bother me,’ you wanted to make conversation with this person. Just to have anything to do that wasn’t sitting in silence and cursing Nymphadora six ways to Sunday for leaving you alone in a place you didn’t want to be. Not knowing who they were, though, and most importantly, not having had enough to drink yet, you found yourself unable to muster up the courage to say a word. You went back to staring down hard at your plate. Your ears pricked up at the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Your drink.”

“Oh thank goodness!” “It’s about time.”

Not looking when you reached out to grab your mimosa from the tray, you were startled when your fingertips were not met by the cool glass of the stem but instead wrapped around a warm hand. Your eyes cut over to your connected hands, and it was only then you realized that the man had also spoken. You flung your hand back as if it had been burned, apologizing profusely.

“I’m so sorry! Please, it’s all yours.”

The newspaper remained in its place, still blocking the view of the man’s face. All you received in response was a quiet humph as he retracted his own hand, drink-less. Altair softly cleared his throat and leaned down to whisper to you.

“This one’s actually for you.” Grimacing, you swiped the drink from the tray, once more downing it in a few gulps. This time to get over how you absolutely embarrassed yourself in front of the stranger next to you. You placed the glass back on the tray, feeling a little less frazzled and a lot more buzzed, and thanked the waiter. He inclined his head before turning to the man. “Now that I know the two of you are sitting next to each other, I can take over for Josh and bring your drinks together. Is that alright, professor?”

Your eyebrows shot to the top of your forehead at the new revelation. Had you really just chugged a mimosa in front of a former professor? You didn’t think it could get any worse than that. The rustling of the newspaper’s pages being turned drew your attention, and you waited with baited breath to hear if you would be able to recognize his voice.

“What do you think?” Your heart dropped and started to race at the same time. The slow drawl. That sarcastic tone. It couldn’t be. The pounding in your ears was so loud you barely registered Altair leaving. All you could do was stare at the back of that infuriating newspaper, watching as another page was turned. “And here I thought you were too much of a goody-two-shoes to ever drink.”

It _was_. Forget wanting to run away. You were ready to be immediately struck by lightening and taken out on the spot. Out of all the possible people to witness your out of turn behavior, it had to be Professor Severus bloody Snape.

Oh, _hell_.

“Swearing, too. WIll wonders never cease?”

The top of the paper fell down, revealing the sardonic potions professor. His eyebrow lifted in question, but you knew it was mocking. You flushed. He looked almost like you remembered him ten years ago when you graduated if not a little rougher around the edges. Admittedly, you knew the second war had not been kind to him, but he didn’t look bad for someone who suffered a vicious snake bite almost five years ago. Watching as he folded the newspaper up and placed it on the seat next to him, you gulped. He was not wearing his usual robes but instead was in a tight, black button-up that had been rolled to the elbows, showing off his surprisingly thick forearms. You had always pictured him as a lean man, and this new information was stirring things in you that you had thought were long dead.

The sudden questioning of your last name snapped you out of your stupor.

“Look, Sev—Professor, I can explain. I was just—“

A deep chuckle cut off whatever excuse you had been lining up to say. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me, you know. And you don’t have to call me professor. You haven’t been my student for over a decade.”

You blinked. A...joke? Severus Snape was making a joke? And he was _chuckling_? You heard that he had loosened up a bit after the burden of being a double agent no longer rested on his shoulders, but this was...something else. You hadn’t drunk too much too fast and were seeing things, were you?

“I assure you I am not an alcohol-induced hallucination.” You reeled back, bringing a hand up to your mouth. “Nor are you unknowingly speaking your thoughts.”

“Then how?”

“Your body language speaks volumes. You have always been fairly easy to read, and it seems that your slight intoxication has made you even more of an open book than you already are.”

Groaning, you dropped your elbows to the table and pressed your fingertips to your temples, attempting to shield yourself from further embarrassment. “This is the absolute worst.”

“On the contrary, I believe it’s quite advantageous. You clearly look as uncomfortable to be here as I feel. Care for a commiseration partner?”

You looked to him over your shoulder. “Fuck yeah.”

His eyebrows raised in shock, but the lifted corner of his mouth betrayed his amusement. His face suddenly dropped all expression, going back to the stoic demeanor you had grown up seeing before picking up his paper and replacing it in front of his face. You were about to ask what was wrong when you heard your name being called out from in front of you. Dropping your hands you saw Nymphie running up to your table in a panic.

“Is this where you’ve been this whole time? I’ve been going crazy looking for you! Thought you might have run off the moment I looked away.” You opened your mouth to reply, but she waved you off, plowing on. “Doesn’t matter now—I wanted to warn you and apologize. I had no idea!”

“Warn me about what?”

“The seating arrangements! I swear if I had known Molly clumped us all together I wouldn’t have forced you to come. But she said with you also being a last minute addition that there was nowhere else to place us together and I’m just so sorry!”

By the tone of her voice you felt like you should be worried about whatever she was saying. However, you zoned out midway and were just hearing sounds at this point. Nevertheless, you made sure to give the illusion of paying attention by nodding and saying, “Sure.”

She gave you a scrutinizing look. “Have you been drinking?”

You giggled at having been caught and smiled coyly at her, bringing your hand up to pinch your thumb and forefinger close together. ”Only a little bit.”

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “At least you might take the news a little easier now. Maybe.”

“What news are you talking about?” You asked again, worry coloring your voice. She shifted on her feet, avoiding eye contact. “You’re starting to scare me Nymphie.”

“You have to promise not to get mad. I swear I didn’t know.”

You sighed deeply and rolled your eyes. “Would you just tell me—“

“Ah, Dora, there you are! You disappeared so suddenly after we bumped into Molly, Delilah and I were worried. Left Moony here to guide us to our table, and you know how terrible he is with directions.”

She was tense as she turned and addressed him, giving him a tight-lipped smile. “Yeah, I was just making sure Tiny here didn’t get herself lost, seeing as its her first time coming and all.”

Pointedly ignoring the schoolyard nickname Nymphie referred to you by, you directed your attention to three people walking up to the table where you sat. Your eyes first landed on Remus who, apart from Nymphadora and Sirius, you saw on an almost daily basis and therefore were one of the few you were comfortable with. You gave him a small smile and a wave as he pulled out a chair for Nymphadora to sit before taking his own seat next to Severus.

He leaned over as he pulled his chair in, smiling warmly back at you. “Hey, you. How are you holding up?”

Your eyes cut over to the other two, whose clasped hangs swung as they approached their designated seats. You shrugged and responded without taking your gaze off of the pair. “Depends.”

With your focus on the lovebirds, you missed the knowing glance that passed between Remus and his wife, and, even moreso, his answering hum. “I see.”

The hands resting in your lap tightened into fists as you watched Delilah giggle at something Sirius whispered into her ear before he pulled out her chair and helped her in, tucking her into the table. Your gaze continued to follow him as he settled into his chair. Directly across from your own. Whether or not it was because he felt the heat from your stare, he suddenly turned to you with a bright smile. Your eyes widened and you blushed, afraid that you had been caught.

“Glad to see Dora was able to convince you to come! It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”

Slightly miffed at the audacity of his statement—as it would have been _exactly_ the same if you didn’t show up because you never came in the first place, and that just confirmed he never noticed before—you ground your teeth together and quirked the corners of your mouth up in a bare attempt at a smile.

“Yup.”

Unaware of your odd behavior, his lips parted in shock as if he remembered something. “Where are my manners? It completely slipped my mind that the two of you haven’t met yet!”

He turned to Delilah and began introducing you, as Remus’ shocked whisper of, ‘They haven’t met each other yet?’ to Nymphie floated over to you. You heard him follow up with an ‘oof’, and you guessed she answered with a well-placed heel to his foot. Sirius turned back to you then, wrapping his arm around Delilah and pulling her close.

“And this beautiful lady here is my girlfriend, Delilah Primwood.”

Girlfriend. He had called her _his girlfriend._ The word shot through your heart like a poisoned arrow, spreading pain through your veins like an icy hot fire, freezing you to the spot and simultaneously making you feel like your whole body was aflame. Sirius Black finally settled down and found himself a girlfriend. And it wasn’t you.

You wanted to scream. Cry. Shout about how horribly she treated you when you were younger. Flip the table and storm off. Do all at once. Instead, taking one look at his hopeful face, you plastered on a smile so fake it hurt, and extended a hand out to the vile woman who managed to snag the position you so desperately coveted.

“Nice to meet you.”

She grasped your hand limply with her perfectly manicured one, not an iota of recognition in her eyes. “Charmed.”

Settling back into your seat, you didn’t miss the shocked looks on Remus and Nymphie’s faces. She grasped her cousin’s shoulder, turning him towards her as she hissed at him. “Girlfriend?! Since when did you two become so serious?”

He took her hand from his shoulder, folding it in between his own. “Only very recently. I was thinking back to what Remus and I were talking about the other night, how he said it was time for me to find a nice girl and settle down. I finally decided to take the plunge this morning. Figured it would be the perfect time to formally introduce her to everyone at the party today.”

She glared at her husband. “What?”

He reared back, scrambling for an answer. “Yes, well. I didn’t mean you had to do it so soon, Padfoot.”

Sirius gave them each a curious look. “I don’t understand. I thought you’d both be happy for me. It’s only the one thing you’ve both been hounding me about for the last couple of years or so.”

Nymphadora ducked her head, darting her eyes to you before quickly landing back on Sirius. “ But what about...you know?”

His face hardened as he pulled away from her.

“Dora, you already know my feelings on the matter. And frankly, I’m offended that you would even bring that up right now.” He sighed, passing his fingers through his hair in agitation. “ Look, I just told my best mates that I finally took their advice and landed myself a great gal. The last thing I expected was to get judged. In front of her, no less. Do the two of you know how unbelievably rude you’re being right now?”

They apologized, having the decency to look properly ashamed. Delilah, you noticed, was sitting there nonplussed as though she expected a reaction of this sort. You, on the other hand, were itching for another drink.

With a placating smile, she placed one hand on Sirius’ arm and cupped his face with the other, turning him to her. “Oh darling, don’t be so harsh on them. They’re only looking out for you. I’m sure you would be just as cautious if you thought your friend was being seduced by a strange woman’s wily ways.”

The loving look he sent her way as he grasped the hand that was on his cheek to press a delicate kiss to had your stomach turning. You clenched your fists again, looking away harshly.

“If it’s the same wily ways you used to seduce my Slytherins, Miss Primwood, I would be cautious as well,” a deep, baritone voice interjected.

Your eyes flew to your right where Severus sat, newspaper still blocking his face. You had honestly forgotten he was here, but now you were thankful for it.

“P-professor!” You had to hide your blossoming smirk as the prim and proper Delilah was caught off guard. “I had no idea you were sitting there!”

He turned a page.

“Obviously.”

The snort that escaped your mouth was thankfully covered by the loud groan that Sirius released.

“Oh come off it, Snape. She’s not your student anymore, leave her be.”

“I was merely trying to suggest you listen to your friends, Black. There may be some merit behind their concerns.”

You knew that you shouldn’t have found the situation humorous. But as you watched Delilah get progressively redder, you had to bite down on your lip to keep the wide smile that was threatening to burst at bay. The smile immediately dropped from your face when Sirius turned to comfort her.

“Don’t worry about him, babe. He’s just jealous that he has to spend yet another year at this party, dateless.”

“Funny you should say that,” Severus started, folding the newspaper up and placing it on the ground next to him before standing from his seat. “As my _date_ and I were just about to get ourselves something to eat.”

The way Sirius’ face blanched as he eyes shifted from your face to the space next to you was intriguing. Curious, you looked to your right where you found Severus leaning down towards you, extending his hand. He said your name softly, quirking his eyebrow.

“Shall we?”

The pieces clicked into place and you giggled, playing it up as though you were flustered. “Oh, yes!”

You placed your palm in his, letting him pull you to your feet. Slightly tipsy, and, let’s face it, trying to get further under Sirius’ skin, you used the forward momentum to ‘fall’ into Severus, giggling even more. His other arm wrapped itself around your back to steady you, pulling you further into him, and you felt your ears heat up. You placed a palm on his chest and smiled up at him flirtatiously.

“I’m absolutely _famished.”_

He smirked down at you in amusement, playing along. “I shouldn’t keep my lady waiting, then.”

Tucking the hand he still had in his grip into the crook of his arm, he turned to lead you to the hors d’oeuvres table. And if you put a little more sway into your hips as you walked away, well, you’d chalk that up to the mimosas.


	3. Part III

“So, Black?”

You and Severus had walked to the food table in a comfortable silence after your little display in front of the others. Once you arrived, he gently released your hand to grab you both a plate when he then handed it to you, inquiry attached.

You reached out to take the plate. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He moved it out of your grasp, giving you a pointed look.

You conceded with a sigh. “Is it that obvious?”

“Painfully.” Smirking, he placed the plate into your outstretched palm. “To everyone but the dog, it seems.”

And with that, it seemed as though the floodgates within you burst wide open as you stood there and poured your heart out to Severus Snape. You started from the beginning, explaining that when you first moved in with Sirius after the war it was only supposed to be temporary as a favor to Nymphie. Death Eaters had destroyed the small town you lived in, putting you out of both home and work. You waved away the sympathetic look away from Severus’ face, stating that it was all property damage, and that no one had gotten too seriously injured.

Continuing, you spoke about how awkward it had been at first. His outgoing personality sometimes became too overbearing for your more introverted one to handle. And once you learned he had an affinity for promiscuity, you made yourself even more sparse. It wasn’t that you were judging, you just wanted him to be comfortable in his own home and felt like your presence might have been considered a hindrance. It wasn’t until one night, when you went to the library to curl up with a good book and a glass of wine, that things took a turn.

He had been sitting in the library that evening, keeping warm by the fire with a glass of whiskey curled in his palm. You had tried to bac out as quietly as you entered when he suddenly turned around and beckoned you to come sit in the twin armchair next to him. You declined his offer, but his insistence combined with your need to please found you stiffly lowering yourself into the seat. The two of you sat there in silence, him staring at the fire and you staring at him. You were about to get up and wish him a good night when he finally started talking. It was one of those dialogues where the person just wanted to be heard, to get everything they’d be thinking about off of their chest and out of their head. So you sat there and listened intently, giving an answer whenever prompted.

It was hardly a conversation, but more words were exchanged between the two of you then than all the days you had been living there previously combined. It became a monthly occurrence after that, each of you agreeing that it was nice to just let it all out every once in a while. From there, it spiraled into something more, going from one sitting in silence while the other expulses everything they’d been bottling up to asking after the other and what they’d been up to since they last spoke, and from going to meeting once a month to meeting at least once a week. Of course, Sirius was still Sirius, and he still had his rotation of women coming through his doors, but he always made sure to set time aside for your fireside chats.

Then, you said with a laugh as you plopped a spoonful of pasta onto your plate, came the night Sirius found out that it was you who had saved Remus’ life. It was as though a switch had been flipped in him, and he was suddenly everywhere you went. And now, instead of hearing about his nightly excursions, you were _invited_ to them. Nothing saucy of course, but when Sirius planned on bar hopping for the night, you inexplicably found yourself being dragged along with him. After a hurried floo call to Nymphie as you were getting ready for yet another bar night, you found out that after Sirius realized it was you who had saved his best friend he personally took it upon himself to make sure you knew how grateful he was by taking you out frequently.

At the start, you were pretty uncomfortable. Bars and clubs weren’t really your scene, and it didn’t help that he would leave you nursing a drink to chat up the first pretty thing to catch his eye. You allowed this pattern to carry on for a few nights until there was one time when he had gotten so caught up with his newest conquest that he left you there to sit at the bar and get drunk by yourself. You couldn’t remember that night too clearly, but you knew something in you had changed then. Now when you went out, you felt more confident, taking it upon yourself to make the first move and talk with other men, leaving Sirius on his own for a change. And then things started to get really weird.

Well, not weird per se, you amended, grabbing two slices of garlic bread, but definitely different. You started noticing that the more you went off on your own, the less he went chasing tail. Though you never went home with any of the people you flirted with, because you were really just doing it for a bit of fun, you couldn’t help but notice that when you returned to your table at the end of the night to close the tab, what was usually an empty seat became occupied by Sirius more and more frequently as the nights passed. Then, on one of your weekly chat nights, he surprised you by taking you out to dinner instead. And then the bar hopping fell to the wayside, intimate dining restaurants taking its place.

It was after months of this that you realized you were falling for him, hard. And for a moment there, you thought he might have felt something for you, too. But, and you attempted to choke back tears here, one night everything changed again. You were having dinner at one of the more fancier establishments, and it had been going great. The two of you were flirting up a storm, innuendos being flung back and forth playfully, small touches here and there, the whole nine yards. You excused yourself to head to the restroom to freshen up one last time and when you came back it was like you were suddenly having dinner with a completely different man.

He was cold, reserved, and speaking to you in nothing more than monosyllabic terms. The dessert you ordered to share sat there untouched as you tried to get him to tell you what was wrong. Nothing you did could shake him, and the two of you eventually left the restaurant and headed home, the warm atmosphere now frigid. You laid in bed that night, quietly sobbing and trying to figure out where in the hell you went wrong. But you could think of nothing.

Shortly after that, Sirius went back to his old ways, and it was as though everything that transpired between the two of you never happened. Even your weekly chats stopped, reverting back to how it was when you first moved in. Your heart ached, but you were willing to give him the space that he so desperately seemed to need with the hope that you’d eventually be able to talk about what happened. And then came Delilah.

You had been sitting in the kitchen, sipping on a mug of tea and waiting up for him to get home. Enough was enough at that point, and you were determined to sit him down and figure out what was going on, if not just for your own peace of mind. When you heard the sound of a woman’s voice, your hand tightened around your mug, but you weren’t going to back down. Not this time. She could wait in his room if she really cared that much. Then you heard that giggle. That obnoxious tittering that seared itself into your brain all those years ago, and you were hearing it in your kitchen. A look up at the window confirmed it actually was her, her reflection every bit as snobby as you remembered, and you bolted. Abandoned your tea right where you sat and fled up the stairs, slamming your door behind you.

You tried to convince yourself that it was only one night, no different from anyone else. You could get over it. But then she was back a week later. Then the week after that. Then two days after. Each time you kept yourself in your room until she left, having to stay longer and longer with each visit. And then one day, she just never left. That first night she started sleeping over, you knew it was the end of whatever had been brewing between you and Sirius. And you were absolutely shattered. Or, at least, you _thought_ you were. Now, though, hearing her being referred to by the g-word, you sniffled as a tear trailed down your cheek, now you truly understood what it felt like for your heart to be devastatingly obliterated.

A gentle touch on your hand paused your movements. “I think that’s enough salad.”

“What?” You blinked as if coming out of a trance, looking down at your plate where you had been scooping spoonfuls of greens onto it, covering everything else with the leaves. “Oh! Thanks.”

He inclined his head to you, and, thinking better of it, you discarded the plate on the table, your appetite lost. It was then that it occurred to you that you just word vomited all over your former potions professor. “Oh my goodness, I am _so_ sorry. I’m sure this was not what you had in mind when you asked.”

“It’s fine. I learned long ago how to block out unnecessary drivel.”

“Uhm, ouch?” He stared at you. “Yeah, alright, I did drone on quite a bit. But I’m buzzed and sad, so you can give me a break.”

He hummed in response and then picked up a chili pepper from a nearby station, holding it up. “Bite.”

“I’m sorry, you want me to do what now?”

He rolled his eyes and deposited his plate next to yours before grabbing your hand and pulling you off to a secluded corner of the food tent. He held the pepper up in front of your face once more. “I’m telling you to bite into this pepper.”

You eyed the chili in his hand, still not understanding. “Why?”

Tired of you not doing what he asked, he brought it up to his own lips and snapped the tip off with his teeth. He chewed, wincing at the spice, before running his tongue along the seam of his mouth. The effect of the pepper was almost instantaneous, his cheeks flushing with red and his lips swelling. He mussed his hair with his free hand, and the end product left him looking like he had just been thoroughly ravished.

The whole scene left you feeling a little hot, no pun intended, but you were still extremely confused when he held the bitten pepper up to you and said, “Your turn.”

The look on your face must have said it all because he rolled his eyes again, agitation clear in his voice as he explained.

“The effect isn’t going to last and you’re clearly too intoxicated to follow along, so I’ll break it down for you simply. You, for some unholy reason, have a thing for Sirius Black. He, however, is here with the _delightful_ Miss Primwood. You and I have taken up the farce of this being a date. You and I have also been gone far too long to simply be picking up appetizers, and those three are, no doubt, speculating just exactly what it is I might be doing with you. Would you care to prove them right or wrong? Now, _bite_.”

Your eyes widened with every word, and by the end your smirk was just as wide as your wrapped your lips around the offered pepper. “Severus Snape, are you acting as my wingman?”

The pepper stung your tastebuds, and you squeezed your eyes tight against the tears that pricked at the edges. You mimicked his earlier actions, licking your lips and tousling your hair, making sure to leave your sunglasses askew atop your head.

“Absolutely not. I couldn’t care less about your torrid affairs.” He disposed of the pepper and picked up his plate, crooking his arm out for you to take. You placed your arm in his and headed back to the table. “But I will take every opportunity to make that dog squirm.”

You scoffed and slapped his arm lightly. You were halfway to your table when he leaned over to whisper in your ear.

“And if that opportunity involves a beautiful woman literally throwing herself into my arms, who am I to turn it down?”

You blushed hotly, catching Sirius’ eye at the same time. You already knew the two of you looked like you had been pawing at each other for the last ten minutes, and you supposed that had just been the cherry on top. The grip he had on his glass tightened as he brought it up to his mouth, and, noticing, you giggled before leaning up to whisper back to Severus.

“You jerk. You said that on purpose!”

He smiled down at you. “Doesn’t make it any less true.”

You bit your lip and tucked a piece of hair behind your ear, your eyes crinkling with an embarrassed smile. In a few more steps you had reached the others, purposefully ignoring their stares as Severus helped you into your seat.

Nymphie was the only one brave enough to say anything.

“Glad to see you two are alright. We were about to send out a search party.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” you started, filling up your water glass with the jug that was sitting on the table. “The line was crazy long.”

You took a huge gulp of your water to quell the burning in your mouth, sparing a glance to Severus who met your gaze with an indistinguishable look of his own. What was he up to now?

“The line to get nothing was super long?”

It was Delilah this time, and you turned to her, confused.

“Sorry?”

“You said you were famished,” she motioned to you with her chin, a knowing smile playing on her lips, “but yet you didn’t get anything to eat?”

With a gasp, you looked down. Sure enough, the plate you had been loading before was nowhere to been seen, left back at the hors d’oeurves table. “I completely forgot about my food!”

The sound of Sirius’ grumbling made itself known, but you were too busy sending a glare over to Severus when you heard him chuckle lowly. You placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned into his ear, facing away from the others.

“That’s twice already,” you hissed. “You really are a scoundrel.”

He chuckled again, turning his head to face you. “So I’ve been told.”

“You...” Whatever you were going to say died on your lips as you turned your head to find that you were mere inches from each other. “I, uhm—“

A commotion brought your attention to the other side of the table where Nymphie was suddenly standing, her hand pressed down firmly onto Sirius’ shoulder.

“Why don’t you and I go back and see if we can get you another plate, hmm?” She asked you. “Besides, I’m starting to feel a little peckish myself, so it all works out.”

She stomped her way over to you, grabbing you by the hand that rested on Severus’ shoulder and pulling you up and out of your chair. Her eyes pierced into yours like ice crystals, and you could tell she was _pissed_.

“Sure..?”

“Want anything Remus?” She didn’t even give him a chance to answer as she started to walk away, tugging you along. “No? Great. Let’s go.”

You gave one last look to Severus, a plea written in your eyes. But all he did was send you off with a smile and a wave. The traitor.

* * *

In moments, you found yourself standing in the same corner of the food tent that you and Severus occupied not minutes earlier. You vaguely overheard Nymphie fuming out loud as she threw questions in your direction, but nothing could get through the pain you were feeling in your face. It was easy not to focus on it earlier, but now that it had settled in your mouth, the remnants of the pepper were having its wicked way with your sinuses.

She hissed your name, anger clear in her voice. You tried to pay attention, but her face became blurry as your eyes watered and you sniffled. She said your name again, this time with uncertainty.

“Are you okay?”

“How the hell is he doing this? My entire face feels like it’s on fire!” You sniffed again, dabbing at the corners of your eyes with your fingertips in an effort not to smudge your eyeliner.

“What in the world are you talking about?”

“Get me a glass of milk, and I’ll explain everything.”

She did as you asked, and you grabbed it out of her hands eagerly. You chugged about half, wiped your mouth clean with the back of your hand, and thanked her before launching into the explanation of everything that happened from the time she left you to the time you came back from the tent with Severus.

At the end of your tale, she was left staring at you, wide-eyed. You feared for a moment that you had broken her when she suddenly burst into a fit of laughter.

“How in the world did you manage to get that surly, old snake to play your wingman?”

“He’s not. He’s only in it to get a rise out of Sirius.”

You had left out the part where you practically poured your heart out to him over the Caesar salad, not wanting your friend to hear how pathetic you acted. Though Severus said that he didn’t care about your feelings, you had an inkling that he truly did feel bad for you. But if he didn’t want you to know that, then you certainly weren’t going to give anyone any other reason to believe so either.

“Of course he is! But, to be honest, I’m kinda glad with how things turned out,” she gave you a cheeky smile, nudging you with her elbow. “And I’m sure you’re over the moon.”

“What do you mean?”

“For one, I can tell you with certainty that Sirius was absolutely _seething_ with jealousy when you walked away with Snape. And it only got worse when you walked back looking like you just finished kissing the daylights out of each other. Fantastic play with the chili pepper, by the way. I must commend him for that later on.”

You rolled your eyes and walked over to the beginning of the food line to grab another plate; you actually were starting to get hungry now, but you also had a feeling you would need the sustenance. She sidled up next to you to grab a plate of her own, her voice becoming teasing as she went on.

“For another, I’d bet anything that 17-year-old you would be _ecstatic_ to find out what position you’ve landed yourself in.”

“I thought we weren’t going to bring that up anymore,” you complained, scooping yet another spoonful of pasta onto your plate. You hoped you’d actually get a chance to eat it.

“Ah, we haven’t reached that threshold yet. Don’t worry,” she said, following suit. “I’m sure we’ll get there soon.”

Ignoring her, you reached for the garlic bread, placing three slices on your plate this time. You decided to skip out on the salad. Nothing else catching your eye, you headed to the entrance of the tent to wait for Nymphadora. She came out shortly after, food piled high on her plate.

“I hope at least some of that is for Remus.”

“All of it is for Remus. I didn’t really want anything, but I figured it would be nice to bring food back for him. I did ask, after all.”

“Aww,” you cooed. “How cute!”

“Oh, shut up.”

When you arrived back at the table, you couldn’t help but notice that it was missing a couple of occupants. You tried not to let it bother you, but as you tucked into your meal your mind began to wander. What were they doing? Would they be gone long? Maybe they were just getting food? Are they doing what you and Severus had been pretending to do? Your hand tightened around your fork at that thought as you shoved a few noodles into your mouth.

Why did you even care anyway? He clearly moved on, so it was time for you to, as well. You chomped a bite out of your bread. But WHY? Why had he moved on so suddenly? Was it something you did? Said? Didn’t do or say? Were you not good enough? But if _you_ weren’t good enough, then how was _she_? You scowled as you took another bite. Where _were_ they?

A warm, heavy palm curled itself around your knee, stilling all your movements. You looked over to Severus, who was sitting there coolly, taking a sip of his drink.

“Relax. You’re shaking the entire table.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

He said nothing more, and you, figuring that was the end of that, brought another forkful of noodles up to your lips. You almost choked when, as delicately as a feather, he rubbed his thumb against the side of your knee twice before removing his hand altogether. Your leg was left tingling where his hand had been, and those soft caresses had sent butterflies tumbling through your stomach. A mimosa was presented to you.

“Altair came while you were gone.”

Dazed, you grabbed the flute with a soft, “ Thanks.”

You took a couple of small sips in an attempt to slow down your drinking. You tended to become chattier around your third or fourth drink, unafraid to speak what was on your mind, and you didn’t want to accidentally voice any of the questions that were currently floating around in your brain. As you continued to nurse your drink, though, your thoughts began to spiral once again. You were in the middle of a sip, and actually did choke, when his hand suddenly replaced itself on your leg, this time higher on your thigh.

You placed the glass down and picked up a napkin in its stead, wiping the bit that had dribbled onto your chin. You sent him a look, but he merely shrugged you off and took another sip of his drink.

“Stop shaking.”

You folded the napkin up, placing it under your plate and out of the way. In an effort to do as he said and relax, you took your glass up once more, leaning back into your seat. Forgoing the small sip method, you downed half the glass at once, releasing the rim from your mouth with a hum as you let the alcohol flow through your system. The moment you felt the tension release from your muscles, his thumb swept against side of your thigh. Your body became alight as every nerve seemed to tighten up at the sensation. The curling of your toes was the only outward reaction you allowed yourself to have.

Clearing his throat, Remus looked at you with concern. “You okay? You’re bright red.”

Ah. You supposed there was that, too.

Swallowing thickly, you nodded. “Yup! Just hot.”

“I bet you are,” Nymphie said under her breath with a snort. She placed her hand over her husband’s, raising her voice. “Don’t worry about her, Moony. She’s just fine.”

“Okay,” he said, not entirely convinced. “ Maybe drink some water, yeah?”

You nodded again and did the exact opposite, gulping down another quarter of your drink when you felt the hand slide slightly higher up your thigh. Your head was swimming and your body felt like it was on fire. With your free hand, you picked up a slice of bread to nibble on, willing your pounding heart to calm. His finger shifted against you once more, leaving a burning hot trail in its wake. You were debating whether or not to do anything about it when Sirius and Delilah came bounding back to the table, all smiles and loving stares. You dropped your bread onto your plate, no longer hungry.

“We’re back,” Sirius said as they arrived.

“Yeah, obviously,” you snarked with a roll of your eyes. Well, that settled it. You were officially drunk now. “And where, exactly, are the two of you coming back from?”

“Around.”

“Around doing what?” You pressed.

“What’s with the inquisition? No one was jumping down your throat when you ran off with Sni— “

“Sirius was just introducing me to everyone here,” Delilah cut in. “Isn’t that right, darling?”

You tried to listen to them. Really, you did. But you found it increasingly hard to do so as Severus slowly dragged his hand even further up your thigh. His fingers dipped into the curve of your thigh, shamelessly cupping it in his large hand. You were grateful for the material of your jeans as the feeling of his skin hot on yours would have surely had you whimpering in need. Somewhere in your lust-addled brain you realized you needed to say something.

“Oh, I s—“ He squeezed down, hard. “ —EE!”

You jerked up in your seat, your back going ramrod straight as you slapped your hand over his. Turning to Severus, you weren’t surprised to see him looking back at you, eyes widened ever so slightly with a hidden look of shock swimming in them. He had only been trying to pull a reaction out of you, similar to the blushing from earlier. You knew that. Same way you knew there was no way for him to know that squeezing that particularly area of your thigh would be _ticklish_. Whatever the case, the reaction did exactly what it was supposed to do—get Sirius to notice.

“And what have _you_ been getting up to?”

The venom with which he spat his question would have hurt if you didn’t recognize it as an indication that the taunting was working. His fists were clenched at his sides, eyes glued to where yours and Severus’ hands were connected on top of your thigh. As he was still standing, he had a perfect view of just how high up they were placed, and with the way your fingers curled under his palm, it seemed less like you were pushing him away and more like you were pulling him closer.

Feeling emboldened by the recent adrenaline rush, you replied, “What I do with _my date_ is none of your business.”

His gaze flew to yours, shooting daggers. “And what I do with _my girlfriend_ should be _yours_?”

That took the wind right out of your sails. You fell back into your seat, breath leaving you in a gust of air. Fingers tightened around yours in comfort, and you squeezed back, sending Severus a small smile. Remus must have picked up on your downtrodden expression because he quickly admonished Sirius.

“Come on, Padfoot. There’s no need to be that harsh.”

“No, it’s okay,” you said in a soft voice. “He’s right. It is none of my business.”

You finished off the rest of your mimosa and placed the glass on the table. Turning the hand in your lap over, you cradled it with both of yours, curling his fingers into his palm.

“You know, I think I am feeling a little under the weather.” You brought Severus’ hand up to your lips and placed a delicate kiss to his knuckles, before gently placing it on his lap. You looked up at him with a watery smile. “I’ll be right back.”

It was for the third time that day you walked away from the table, but for the first time, you were alone.

* * *

The cool splash of water felt like heaven against your face. Raising your head, you caught your reflection staring back at you in the mirror.

“What were you thinking?” You whispered harshly to yourself. “You’re only going to hurt yourself in the end, asking questions like that!”

You splashed more water on your face.

“And that kiss?!” You groaned, passing a towel gently over your face. “You’re lucky to come out alive tonight after that little stunt. Snape very well may kill you for it.”

You turned the faucets off and gave yourself one last, hard look. Pointing at yourself, you vowed, “That’s it. No more drinking for you today!”

You nodded once in determination before turning and opening the door. Stopping short, you barely managed to keep yourself from crashing into the person that stood in the doorway.

“Sirius? What are you doing here?” It’s a bathroom, you mentally berated yourself. Take three guesses as to why he’d be waiting outside. Ducking your head, you moved to squeeze by him. “Never mind. It’s all yours.”

A solid arm was suddenly blocking your escape route, and you once again found yourself reeling back in an effort to avoid colliding with it. You took another step back, looking up at him curiously. His eyes were swirling with a brewing storm, turning the shade a steel blue. He looked down at you with a sneer.

“What? Not who you were expecting?”

You gaped up at him, lost. Taking a moment to figure out what he was talking about, you realized this was the first time that you got a good look at him all day. He towered over you, a royal purple dress shirt pulled snug across the arms that stretched across the doorframe. His top three buttons were undone, leaving the long column of his neck exposed and displaying the top of his broad chest, where wisps of hair were just barely visible. His normally unruly hair was smoothed back into a low ponytail that was held with a leather strap. You remembered when he started wearing it that way, claiming that Delilah preferred for him to look a little more kept. You hated her just a tad more then, as you had always thought his soft curls added to his rogueish charm. Not to mention it made it much harder to imagine running your fingers through the strands if they were always tied up.

You licked your lips then, the action catching his attention. The intense staring contest he had with your mouth left you feeling self-conscious as you stammered out an answer.

“I-I don’t know what you mean.”

“No?” He took a step forward, forcing you to take one back. “Then why did your _date_ come running after you?”

Perhaps because he was the only one that saw you on the verge of tears and wanted to make sure you were alright? Regardless, you hadn’t seen Severus since you left ten minutes ago, and you couldn’t help but think he was using this as another opportunity to bother the man in front of you. Of course, with Sirius unknowledgeable of this, he would jump to his next logical conclusion. Rolling your eyes, you tucked yourself into the space below his arm and moved into the hallway.

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t make it a habit of making out in bathrooms at parties.”

His next words froze you in place.

“In the food tent next to a horde of people is just fine, though, right?”

You flushed in embarrassment, once again cursing Severus for how scandalous he made you look. You rounded on Sirius, who was now standing in the middle of the bathroom and facing you, arms crossed.

“I thought we agreed to mind our own business.”

“I don’t recall agreeing to anything.” He sighed and brought a hand up to run through his hair. Remembering that it was tied up, he smoothed his hand over the top of his head instead and tugged at the ends that were bundled together at the nape of his neck. “What are you doing here?”

“I was using the bathroom. That is what it’s for.”

“Don’t be cheeky,” he said, leveling you with a look. “What are you doing here with _him_? Was he the reason you were so nervous this morning?”

“What if it was?”

“This whole time I thought...well, I suppose it doesn’t matter what I thought. I hope the two of you have a good time together.”

That angered you for some reason, and you stepped closer to him. “What did you think, Sirius?”

“I already told you it doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me. Now tell me what you thought!”

“I just think you can do way better than him, that’s all! _He_ doesn’t deserve you!”

“And who _does_ deserve me, huh? _You_?”

You had gotten closer with each outburst, so much so that you were shouting in each other’s faces mere centimeters away from each other. He was leaning down over you, and you had your head raised to him in defiance as the two of you practically exchanged breaths with every exhale. It seemed to dawn on him what you said, and he looked away, panicked.

“I...”

You backed away, a humorless chuckle on your lips.

“Yeah, that’s what _I_ thought. Don’t forget Sirius, _you_ were the one who pulled away from me. _You_ were the one who decided I wasn’t good enough. And _you_ were the one who decided to move on. Don’t fault me for trying to do the same.”

With that, you turned on your heel and made your way back to the others, head held high.


	4. Part IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who read the AN in the previous chapter, just know that I have officially removed it for reasons you will soon find out. Hope you enjoy the surprise! ;)
> 
> For everyone else, I hope you’re enjoying the story so far!
> 
> And a HUGE thank you to everyone who has read and commented so far. I love you all so very much, and it seriously helps to keep me going, knowing that you all actually enjoy something I thought only I would like. 
> 
> XOXO

It had been a couple of hours since your confrontation with Sirius in the bathroom. When you returned, the table had been cleared to make way for the lunch course. You sat as the waitstaff served everyone their meals, swiftly tucking into yours to offset the amount of drinking you had been doing. Severus returned shortly after that, and when you leaned in to ask where he had been, his only answer was the slight raise of the corner of his mouth. You rolled your eyes and laughed, whispering an offhand comment about toning the teasing down. He didn’t have the chance to respond as that’s when Sirius chose to arrive. He sat without looking at you, and you were equal parts relieved and hurt.

During the meal, you caught up with Remus and Nymphie, asking after their jobs and Teddy. Realizing you hadn’t seen him all day, they pointed out that he was over with the other kids and once that happened, it was almost as if his own parents didn’t exist. You laughed, telling them to make sure he at least made time to come over and say hi to his godmother. Nymphie scoffed and wished you good luck with ‘getting that brat to do anything you told him.’ You knew she meant it jokingly, but you could sense the frustration behind it, and made a mental note to take Teddy off her hands soon to give her and Remus some well-deserved time together.

Soon the lunch plates were also cleared, and, with the food settled heavy in your stomach, you had gotten your bearings back. Well, only a few of them. You were still giggly and would say anything that came to mind, but with Severus keeping his hands to himself and Sirius refusing to even acknowledge your presence, it was easier to keep a hold of yourself. There had been something that was bothering you, though, and it made itself known when your eyes landed on the white stock card that was still atop the plate to your left.

“Hey Nymphie,” you motioned to the card with your chin, “have any idea who’s supposed to be sitting here?”

“Yes.”

You squinted at her. She had partaken in a couple of mimosas herself during lunch, leaving her on the better side of tipsy. As such, you knew the exact moment when she was hiding something, specifically when she refused to meet your eyes.

“You gonna tell me who it is?”

She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and bit down.

“No.”

“Okay, well, now I’m _really_ curious.”

You reached out to pick up the card to see the name printed on it, but as soon as your finger made contact with the corner, it zapped you. The spark shot up your arm and you flung your hand back, sticking your finger in your mouth.

“What the hell! That hurt!”

Removing your hand from your mouth, you shook it to try and relieve the tingling sensation. You heard Nymphie’s giggles, and you shot her a glare before sticking your tongue out at her.

“Fine! If I can’t pick it up, I’ll just lean over and read it.” You leaned over in your chair, resting your palm on the seat of the chair next to you to hold your weight. Looking at the card ended up being less than helpful, as the letters were jumbled with some upside down, others backwards, and the rest just blurred out. “Either I’m way more drunk than I think I am or this thing’s charmed because I can’t fucking read it for the life of me.”

She gasped out a laugh, slapping her hand onto the table.

“Would you stop? It’s supposed to be a surprise!”

You sat back up and looked at her curiously.

“A surprise...?”

Something about that must have been clear to Remus because he groaned and dropped his head into his hands. “Is it who I think it is?”

She nodded furiously, sticking the tip of her thumb into her mouth in order to tamper down her rapidly growing grin. Remus let out another groan. She slapped him lightly on the arm and rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be a baby. We aren’t _that_ bad.”

“Separately, no. But getting the three of you together in addition to unlimited alcohol? You’re lucky I’m not sending out a warning for everyone to start running for the hills as fast as they can.” He turned to Severus, who lifted a brow in question. “And whatever happens, just know that that’s just how they are. It means nothing, and there’s no need for you to worry.”

“Remus!”

“I’m just trying to give him a heads-up.”

“He doesn’t need a heads-up!”

Remus gave his wife an odd look. “What do you mean? They are on a date, no?”

“Yeah, but...” She threw her hands up and rolled her eyes. “Never mind! Give him all the heads-up you think he needs.”

To Severus’ credit, he merely nodded and said, “Noted.”

Curiosity at an all time high and slightly frustrated that you were getting nowhere, you sat up in your seat and crossed your arms. “Will either of you just tell me who it is already?”

You were vaguely aware of the slight ‘pop’ sound of apparition emanating from behind you. Sirius’ face lit up in recognition.

“Ch—“

The sight of Nymphie clapping her hand over his mouth was the last thing that reached you before your eyes were covered by a pair of large, rough hands. A chin rested atop your head, enveloping you in the heady scent of smoke and musk.

“Guess who?”

The unknown assailant leaned your body side to side with his sing-songy words. You heard Nymphie laugh.

“She’s a little out of it at the mo’. You’re going to have to be a bit more specific.”

The man above you huffed, blowing a few strands of hair into your face. “Already? It’s not gone half-past one!”

You snickered. “Sounds like you have a lot of catching up to do, then!”

“Oh, is that so? You don’t even know who you’re talking to, little missy!”

“I’m still waiting for my clue!”

He hummed in thought and raised his head, tilting yours to the side and back. “Since Tonksy here thinks you’re too sloshed to give it a proper think, I’ll make it an easy one. Let’s see...oh yes! Your one, true Gryffindor love!”

The muffled sounds of an exclamation were covered by the loud gasp you released as you brought your hands up to your mouth. With a squeal you answered, “Captain Brevis Birch of the Tutshill Tornados?”

Laughter erupted from Nymphie as well as the man above you, shaking your body with each chuckle.

“I totally forgot how into that guy you were!” She exclaimed through peals of laughter.

“ _Into_ him? She practically had a dedicated shrine to that bloke, don’t you remember?”

“I simply admired his play style, is all!”

“Oh sure,” Nymphie snorted. “If by ‘admired’ you mean you drooled over and by ‘play style’ you mean his arse, then you really ‘admired his play style’ a _lot_.”

There was more laughter and you would have rolled your eyes if you could. With a huff, you placed your hands on top of the ones over your eyes, curling your fingers over the top. “Yeah, yeah, yeah! Can I have my eyesight back yet?”

“You still haven’t guessed correctly!”

“It’s not my fault you keep giving shitty hints!”

“Alright, you naughty potty mouth. I’ll give you an even easier one this time. It’s your favorite Weasley!”

You had already known who it was from the moment he covered your eyes. He knew you knew that. And Nymphie _definitely_ knew you knew that. So, with the softest smile and the sweetest voice, you tilted your face up and delivered your answer.

“Bill?”

“You cheeky little—“ Your palms were flung away as the hands underneath moved from your eyes to pinch your cheeks, pulling hard. “ Bill! BILL?! You’re telling me _Bill_ is your favorite?!”

Giggles poured out of you even as your cheeks started to hurt. “Let go, Charlie! I know it’s you, you meanie!”

“I don’t care! You want to be a brat, then suffer the consequences!”

He pulled even harder, and you squealed in discomfort. Retaliating, you reached up and slapped your hands over his cheeks, pulling just as hard. “Let go!”

“Ow! You let go!”

“You do it first!”

“No, you!”

“How about you _both_ let go?” Nymphie shouted, pulling out her wand to wave at the two of you. She sent a jinx your way, shocking your hands away from each other. You both turned to look at her, ashamed.

“Sorry, Nymphie.” “Sorry, Tonksy.”

Ignoring any response she might have given to that, you hopped up from your seat and turned to Charlie, leaning up on your tip-toes to wrap your arms around his shoulders and pull him to you in a tight hug. His arms snaked around your back and squeezed as he lifted you off of the ground. Giggling, you turned your face into his neck, deeply inhaling his scent.

“I missed you, Charlie-bear.”

“I missed you, too, Tiny.”

You reared back, placing your hands on top of his shoulders for support. “I am _not_ tiny! You’re just freakishly tall!”

“Oh, sure, whatever you say,” he falsely agreed, giving you an exaggerated wink.

“Oi, mind not hogging him up so he can say hello to the rest of us?”

You looked over at Nymphie, an incredulous look plastered on your face. “Right. I’m the one suspended in mid-air against my will, yet _I’m_ the hog? Unbelievable!”

With a laugh, Charlie placed you back on the ground and you slipped back into your seat with a roll of your eyes. You caught Sirius’ eye on the way down, and you tried not to let the heated stare affect you. Let him be as big-headed and jealous as he wanted with Severus—that was the point, after all. But there was no way you were going to stand for anything he might have to say about yours and Charlie’s relationship. The two of you had been best friends for 17 years, and if he couldn’t handle how close you were, then too bad for him.

His stare was diverted from your face when Charlie approached him and Delilah.

“And who’s this lovely lady,” he asked, taking one of her hands in his to place a kiss upon her knuckles as he introduced himself. “I don’t quite believe we’ve ever met.”

“I’m Delilah,” she giggled as she brought her hand back to her face to cover her laughs. “I’m Sirius’ girlfriend.”

You almost laughed out loud at how high his eyebrows flew into his hairline. His face became enflamed in embarrassment as he tried to stutter out an apology.

“Sirius, mate, forgive me. I never would have guessed—“ A snort escaped you as he dug himself a deeper grave with his words. He sent you a glare before continuing. “What I mean to say is you’re not really the kind of guy who—“

You barked out a laugh this time, cutting him off once more. He sent you another look, a plea swimming in his eyes. You smirked and took a sip of your water. “Please, go on. You’re doing fabulously.”

He turned back to Sirius, more words to bury himself even deeper no doubt on his lips, when Sirius placed a hand on his arm with a wry smile that didn’t fully reach his eyes. “No worries, yeah?”

“Yeah, yup, uh huh,” Charlie nodded furiously, sending a small smile to Delilah with an incline of his head. “Nice meeting you.”

He scurried back to his seat next to you, face and ears bright red. You grabbed the water pitcher and poured it into his glass, filling it to the brim. “You alright there, Char? You’re looking a little hot under the collar.”

“I cannot believe you,” he hissed. “You really can be a pain in the ass sometimes.”

You snickered and took another sip of water, catching an ice cube in your mouth. You rolled it around on your tongue, letting the cool block soothe the fuzzy feeling that had started to pop up by your nose. “I never can pass up the chance to watch you make an utter fool of yourself, you know.”

“Don’t worry,” Nymphie butted in. “You’ll have a chance to get your payback when you find out who _her_ date is.”

Charlie looked at you with wide eyes and a smug smile that you wanted to smack off his face. “Oh ho ho, is that so?”

You sneered at him in response.

“Where is lover boy, anyway,” Sirius spat. “He seems to have a habit of pulling a disappearing act on you lately.”

“He was just right—“ Your head swiveled to where Severus previously sat, only to find his seat mysteriously empty. It still shocked you how quietly that man could move. Out of the corner of your eye you could sense someone approaching, and you turned fully to greet them. “Altair!”

Charlie leaned over to whisper in your ear. “Your date is one of the waitstaff?”

“Huh? No! That’s Altair; I paid him to get me drunk!” You paused. “Wait, that came out wrong. He’s my drink man! Did that sound better?”

You could tell by the amused look on Charlie’s face that no, it did not sound better. You shrugged it off with a wave of your hand and turned back to Altair, who had finally reached the table, stopping next to you. He held a tray filled with small cups of brown liquid, nothing at all like the mimosas you had spent the day drinking.

“Whatcha got there, Altair?”

He snapped, and within the blink of an eye a cup was placed in front of everyone seated at the table. You picked up the cup between your thumb and your forefinger, giving the light brown liquid a tentative sniff. You wrinkled your nose at the smell as it burned a path down your nostrils. Firewhiskey.

Altair cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “I have been anonymously requested to bring your table a round of shots and to keep doing so until someone’s cried, passed out, or both. So, drink up!”

You all looked back at each other, baffled. Who on earth would be sending you shots of Firewhiskey with such high stakes instructions? A white, stock card was presented in front of your face.

“I was also asked to deliver this to you. Enjoy!”

And with that he was off, presumably to start refilling your next round.

Holding the card, you noticed it was made from the same material as the name cards on the table, and it only confirmed your suspicions when the lettering of your name glowed a bright gold before disappearing. A handwritten block of text replaced it.

**_Don’t listen to Sirius, I haven’t abandoned you. I figured I’d give you space to enjoy yourself with an old friend without having to hold back on my behalf. And from what I recall of the two of you in school, Mr. Weasley will do a fantastic job of keeping that puppy tied up in knots. I’ll be back soon. Promise._ **

**_P.S. Be sure to thank Remus for me._ **

A silly grin had spread across your lips as you read the message, staying there until you hit the end where you burst into laughter. Too busy guffawing at the footnote, you hardly noticed when Charlie reached out to grab it from you only for it to disintegrate in his fingers. Holding the cup out in front of you, you motioned for the others to do the same.

Charlie and Nymphie followed suit without hesitation, pressing their cups to yours. Delilah’s was up next, and in an act of drunken comraderie you sent her a bright smile. She looked stunned, but you were too busy moving your attention to Sirius to notice.

“Come on! You, too,” you said, waggling your eyebrows at him. “Who knows? Maybe this’ll finally take out the stick you’ve been hiding up your ass all day.”

A bubble of laughter rose out of Delilah, and you smiled smugly at the shocked look he sent her way. He turned back to you and raised his cup with a fire in his eyes and a challenge on his lips. “Oh, we’ll see about that.”

Smirking, you looked over to Remus. “You joining?”

With all eyes on him, he sighed and lifted his cup to join the others. “Yeah, alright.”

Cheers and hollers erupted all around. You counted down from three, tipping the cup back into your mouth and letting the shot slide down your throat. You slammed the cup onto the table, shivering as the burn spread throughout your body.

“Ugh, that first shot’s always the worst.”

“Yeah,” Nymphie agreed. “But it gets the job done the quickest.”

“You ever going to tell us who sending the rounds?” Charlie asked as he picked up your discarded cup and placed it into his.

Your eyes cut over to Remus, who blanched.

“He didn’t.”

“Oh, yes he did! _And_ he sends his thanks for the idea, by the way.”

Remus groaned, before turning to address Sirius and Delilah.

“You better hope you have a strong tolerance for stupidity. With these three, you’re gonna need it.” He winced when you, Charlie, and Nymphie let out loud whoops as Altair came and redistributed another round. “And now that they’re drinking, it’s going to get _personal_.”

* * *

You were currently four shots in, and you were feeling good. No, you were feeling more than good. You felt _free_. You had spent the last couple of months moping around and hiding in your room, and it felt so damn exhilarating to be laughing about with your two best friends. Charlie had spent the first hour regaling you with tales from Romania, while Nymphie spent the next complaining about the struggles of how boring it was to be an Auror nowadays. It was enough to take your mind off of everything that had been going on with Sirius, and you were immensely grateful for that.

Speaking of Sirius, after your jab at him earlier, it seemed as though he really did loosen up. Or perhaps, and this was the more likely reason, it was because you were a naturally friendly person. And four shots deep, you became an exceptionally friendly person with the need to keep everyone included. Enough to overcome any prior hatred you may have had, in fact. That’s not to say you suddenly forgot the pain she caused when you were younger or that you were on the fast track to becoming besties, but you did treat her amicably and in doing so found that, begrudgingly, Delilah wasn’t such a bad person after all.

And with the way Sirius’ face lit up as he watched the two of you interacting in a friendly manner, you could tell that it meant a lot to him. It still stung immensely, and you knew it would take you a while before you ever truly accepted them together, but maybe you wouldn’t hide away every time she came around now. A flash of the two of them smiling lovingly at each other crossed your mind, and you frowned. Yeah, that just might be the drink talking.

“You okay? You’re frowning kind of hard there.”

Delilah’s lilting voice cut through your musings. You looked to the bathroom door from which she had just exited as you had been leaning on the wall next to it.

Minutes earlier you had gotten up from the table with a need to use the restroom, only to be shocked—along with everyone else—when she also stood and offered to go with you. Accepting with a bright smile, you looped your arm through hers and pulled her to the house where your dropped her off at the first floor bathroom before making your way to the one on the second. Surprised that you were finished before her, you decided to wait until she was done and rested against the wall, getting lost in your thoughts.

She said your name, waving her hand in front of you.

“Do you need to sit? I can get you some water, if you’d like.”

You shook your head, sending her a soft smile.

“No, thank you. Spacing out a little, but I’m all good!” You bounced off the wall, holding your arm out to her. “You ready to go?”

An amused grin playing at her lips, she took your offered arm and started to lead you back to the table. You had made it out of the house and up to the edge of the lawn when she froze in her tracks. She sighed deeply, tugging on your arm for you to turn to her. Her brow was furrowed and her lips were twisted to the side, but she didn’t say anything.

“Delilah?”

“I remember you!” She blurted.

You stared at her, open-mouthed and dumbfounded.

“From school,” she rectified in a softer tone. “I remember you. From that day. And what I did.”

“Oh.”

You gulped and shied away from her, pulling your arm away to tuck it into your side. She reached out and grasped your hand, clutching it in both of hers.

“Wait, please! I...I want to apologize. How I acted towards you was completely unacceptable for someone my age, even back then, and I’ve regretted it ever since. Do you ever think you could find it in your heart to forgive me?”

Even through your foggy brain, you could tell she was completely sincere in everything she was saying. And because you had a gentle heart that wanted to see the good in everyone, you were close to accepting her apology on the spot. There was something that was still bugging you, though.

“But why me? All these years and the one thing I’ve never understood is why you chose to pick on _me_?”

She looked away in embarrassment, her face red.

“Honestly, I wish I could say that you were a random target on a random day, but that’s unfortunately not the case.” She sighed again, as if to brace herself for what she was going to say next. “I was doing a favor for my sister.”

You blinked.

“Please understand, I’m not normally a cruel person. But when your little sister comes up to you crying about how a classmate of hers is bullying her in potions class, a certain protective instinct emerges from you, you know? Anyway, it was only after the school year ended that the truth came out of her and by that point you were so busy avoiding me, not to mention Nymphadora never left your side after that, I knew I would never be able to formerly apologize.”

You were utterly lost. In an attempt to verify what she was saying, you wracked your brain for any encounter with someone that might have been considered _bullying_ only to end up even more confused. You couldn’t recall a lick of a situation where that could have happened, and it must have shown on your face.

“Like I said, it eventually came out that it wasn’t true at all, but do you remember a girl named Stella? She was a first year Gryffindor, and she sat next to you in potions class?”

“Girl, you are making me do a _lot_ of thinking right now.”

“I know, but it’s important.”

At her pitiful look, you thought back once more. It wasn’t hard to remember the class. In fact, it was probably one of the few subjects you actually remembered with great deal, but you struggled slightly to remember who had been sitting next to you that first year. And then it hit you.

“I remember now! She was a quiet, kind of mousy girl? Wore thick-rimmed glasses and always had her hair up in a ponytail? _That_ was your sister?! We hardly even spoke to each other before Christmas break! How could she say I bullied her?”

Delilah winced, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way. She was young and didn’t know any better, and she was reprimanded heavily when she finally told us the truth, but...she was jealous that a muggleborn was able to get higher markings than her. She couldn’t understand how you were able to pick it up so easily while she struggled with something she had been exposed to her whole life and wanted to get payback, I suppose. That’s when she came to me for help, and well, you know the rest.”

“Oh, that’s...”

You trailed off, not really certain how to feel. It wasn’t the revelation of the fact that you’d had a prejudiced classmate enlist her older sibling to get revenge on you that made you feel conflicted. She was eleven and a pureblood who probably had other pureblood friends that might have put ideas into her head at the time. You couldn’t fault her for that and quietly sent her a thought of forgiveness. No, you actually felt _bad_ for Stella.

Bad because she had no idea how hard it was for you to do well in that class in the beginning. That it did not come as easily to you as she believed. In fact, the only reason you succeeded in that class at all was because, well...

You coughed, embarrassed at the memory.

“Actually, I—“

“I don’t want you to think that my family or I uphold those pureblood beliefs; I swear we don’t!” Delilah ploughed on, so desperate to get you to understand that she missed your floundering. “I just...we’re _so_ sorry.”

She sounded to be on the verge of tears and, in a panic, you pulled her to you in a tight hug.

“Delilah, it’s okay! I forgive you and your sister!”

She leaned back, a tear trailing down her cheek.

“Really?”

You wiped the tear away and smiled wide.

“Really, really. No more crying, yeah?”

She squealed in delight and leaned back into you, wrapping her arms around you tightly.

“Gosh, you’re the sweetest! Sirius would be so lucky to have you!”

Your jaw dropped as your eyebrows skyrocketed. _What_ did she just say? You had no time to ask as she suddenly grabbed your arm in hers and began walking back to the table. Still stunned speechless, she was able to get away with it until you got about halfway back and the sight of Sirius watching the two of you jumpstarted the rest of your motor functions.

“Hey Delilah, what did you mean by that?”

“That you’re sweet? I feel like that’s pretty self-explanatory.”

“No, not that! The thing with Sirius; what was that about?”

Her mouth dropped open into an ‘O’, which she swiftly covered with the palm of her free hand. “Guess the cat’s out of the bag now, huh?”

“Uh, no??”

She giggled and rolled her eyes only to give you a shocked expression when she realized you were serious.

“Look, you _have_ to realize by now that it’s all—“

“Girls! You two look like you’re having a grand time.” Sirius met the two of you a few feet away from the table. He shot a pointed look at Delilah. “Not talking about me _too_ much, are we?”

“Not everything is about you, Sirius, dear,” Delilah giggled again, breaking off the hold she had on you to boop him on the nose.

He frowned, grabbing the hand off his face and bringing it down. The way he shifted his eyes from Delilah to you and back left an odd feeling settling in your stomach. And it was only when you took a good look at them did you notice something was...off.

The way she leaned into him was affectionate, sure, but it was his reaction that gave you pause. He held her hand in his and had his other arm wrapped around her waist as she supported herself on his shoulder with her other hand. It’s an embrace that normally would have had you running away and locking yourself in your room—if only he didn’t look so stiff. And with the way his eyes kept shifting between you two screamed _‘panic’,_ you didn’t know what to feel.

“As far as I knew, the two of you just met. What else could you have been talking about?”

Delilah hummed and ran her tongue over her teeth playfully. “We were having a bit of a girl chat. No biggie.”

“Is that so? About what?”

“Oh, you know. Talking about school days, burying old hatchets, normal girl talk,” you deadpanned, still confused at the display in front of you.

He seemed relieved to hear that, his body relaxing. He looked at you in question.

“Wait, what—“ His face hardened. “You’re back.”

A hot, heavy palm on your waist almost had you jumping out of your skin.

“Indeed I am.”

You knew that lovely, deep voice anywhere. Turning, you were’t surprised to see Severus looking down at you, his signature smirk on his face.

“Did you miss me?”


	5. Part V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that it took so long to get this out! I was really struggling with this chapter, and I know it’s all over the place, but I hope you all enjoy anyway!
> 
> As always, I’d love to thank everyone who has given me kudos and left amazing comments; you’re all beautiful people, and I just love you guys.
> 
> BUT! I’d especially love to shout out Alma_Rohe because if it weren’t for them, if I hadn’t woken up one morning to a slew of their comments, then I probably wouldn’t have been as motivated to get this one out. So, thank you so much, love!
> 
> Please enjoy!

The four of you returned to the table without another word. Sirius and Delilah seemed to be having a silent conversation with their eyes as they took their seats, about what you weren’t sure. What you did know, though, was that the way their brows furrowed and their lips turned down into frowns indicated that it wasn’t a pleasant conversation. So caught up in the display in front of you, it took a few moments for you to realize that Charlie was missing from the table.

Catching Nymphie’s attention, you motioned with your chin at his empty seat.

“Where’d he run off to?”

With an exaggerated roll of her eyes, she responded, “Two words: dessert table.”

“Of course he is,” you giggled.

“Please, you’re almost as bad as him. In fact, his plate would be half as full most times if he didn’t know you would inevitably mooch off of him.”

Gasping, you brought a hand to your chest in mock hurt. “Me? I would never!”

You laughed with her, until a breath by your ear startled you.

“What are you two giggling about?”

Charlie was bent down next to you on the left, leaning into you as his right arm draped over your shoulder. You poked a finger into his cheek. “Don’t worry your pretty, little head about it.”

He sent you a dazzling smile.

“Aww, I always knew you thought I was pretty.”

“Yeah. Pretty ugly!”

You pushed his face away, snickering. He stood back up with a frown, gesturing to the plate topped with sweets held high in his other hand. “I see. Well, I guess you won’t be having any of these lovely desserts I painstakingly picked out just for you.”

Gasping for real, you pushed your bottom lip out into a pout and placed your palms together. “I didn’t mean it, I swear! Don’t take away my cakes!”

He scoffed, unfazed.

“I see how it is. You’re not apologizing because you mean it. You only want what I brought!”

You eyes shifted to the side. “Er, well, _yeah_ , but—“

“Unbelievable.”

He made to look like he was going to walk away from the table, treats in tow, when you shot a hand out to wrap around his wrist.

“Wait! Look, okay, look.” Your eyes bore into his, full of sincerity. You pressed your hand over your heart. “Charles Weasley, I am solemnly swearing to you right here and right now that you are, at least, the second hottest Weasley I know.”

 _“At least?_ Second??”

“Uhm, yeah...?” You blinked owlishly at him. “Did you think that thing about Bill earlier was a joke or something?”

His face contorted in anger, and the wrist you were holding twisted out of your grasp as he pinched his fingers hard around your nose. He pulled your head side to side, and you cried out.

“Nymphie! Help me!”

“Absolutely not. You practically asked for it.”

You shot her a glare before turning your eyes back on the man who was trying to wrench your nose from your face. He looked furious, but you could see the edges of his lips curl up and the mirth dancing in his eyes.

“You little brat. You’re lucky you’re very drunk right now, otherwise I would be extremely offended.”

“You call this being unoffended?!”

“Yup!”

Placing your hands over his, you managed to get him to pause his movements so that your head was no longer being shaken. Even though you were now stationery, your eyes felt like they were spinning as your stomach rolled. A low groan escaped you, and you rushed to cover your mouth.

“Charlie, I think that’s enough,” you heard Sirius say in a soft but commanding voice.

Charlie flung his hand back from your face as though it had burned him. Depositing the plate onto the table, he kneeled down to look up into your face.

“Hey, you alright? I’m—thanks Sirius—I didn’t mean to make you sick.”

He handed you the glass of water Sirius refilled and passed to him, worry etched into each of his features. You took it with a quiet thanks, downing half the glass in a couple of gulps. Folding yourself onto your arms on top of the table, you rested the cold glass against your forehead and closed your eyes with a sigh.

You inhaled a few deep breaths in an effort to quell the tumbling in your stomach and the dizziness in your mind. You had just gotten your bearings back when a gentle touch on the top of your head had you raising it in question. In front of you, Sirus was retracting his hand from where it briefly rested on you.

Putting the glass down, you grabbed his hand in a flash and pulled it to your cheek. The coolness of his palm was soothing to you and you nuzzled into it, giving him a lazy smile as your eyes drifted shut.

“Feels so nice...”

Oblivious to the plight you’d just bestowed upon Sirius, you unintentionally made it worse when he shifted in his seat to get into a more comfortable position, causing him to curl his fingers into the hair at your temple to which you let out a low, content sigh through your nose. He froze, your name sounding strangled as he called it.

“Hmm?”

You responded with a questioning hum, not bothering to open your eyes. He cleared his throat, inquiring after you with a firmer voice. Something in his tone cut through the happy fog you were currently floating in, and you slowly opened your eyes.

“Yes?”

Observing him with half-hooded lids, you noticed a few things that stood out to you. One, his normally confidant gaze was gone. Instead his eyes darted to and fro between your eyes and his hand, not fully settling on either. Two, you were elated to learn that when Sirius blushed, it was as though a light sprinkling of pink was dusted over his cheeks, giving him the most adorable flushed look. And three, he had extremely kissable lips.

Well, you giggled to yourself, you already knew that one. But it was especially evident now as you watched him wrap them around whatever he was saying. Full, pink, and begging to be bit; you watched with wrapt attention as he spoke, darting your tongue out to moisten your own lips. They suddenly stopped moving, and your eyes swept up to see that he finally settled his gaze—on your mouth. Absentmindedly, you figured he was waiting for your response to what he said.

“Huh? What did you say?”

“I, uhm, I asked if you were feeling better.”

Dazed, you didn’t notice the way he tripped over his words or that they had dropped into a whisper. You smiled at him warmly and nodded, pressing his hand down on your face so that it wouldn’t get dislodged with the motion.

“I’m perfect. Your hand feels so cool and nice.” You turned your face further into his palm, the heat radiating from it licking at your lips. Oh. Well, it _did_. Your mouth pulled down into a frown and you pushed his hand away, releasing it to make a grabby motion. “The other one.”

His jaw dropped in shock, and he stared at you dumbly.

“P-pardon?”

You leaned further over the table, opening and closing your palm again. “Gimme the other hand. That one got too hot.”

He swallowed thickly, his eyes once again darting around your face. Apparently making up his mind to heed your request, he moved to place his hand in your own. Mere centimeters away, you felt an arm wrap around your waist to pull you back up into your seat, wrenching you away from Sirius’ grasp.

“Alright, drunky, no more for you,” Charlie said as he righted you in your chair. “Sorry about that, Sirius. She tends to get a bit touchy-feely when it finally hits her.”

“Come on,” you whined. “He didn’t mind it! Right?”

Charlie halted you from looking over to Sirius for confirmation with a well placed finger to your side, bringing your attention back to him with a cry of pain. He seemed unaffected by your outburst as he sent you a scathing glare.

“He might not have, but I’m sure his _girlfriend_ did,” he whispered hastily.

Ouch, that hurt. Charlie had no way to know how painful that was to hear, but you couldn’t help getting mad at him anyway. You pouted childishly, turning your head away and crossing your arms.

“Whatever,” you muttered.

A choking sound came from him as he quickly turned to the others.

“So sorry. She gets real mouthy, too.” He brought a hand up to his mouth, stage-whispering. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to reign her in, but at the end of the day she never really means any of it.”

You snorted. “Yes I do!”

Another jab at your side which you responded with a reflexive slap to his hand.

“Apologize,” he hissed.

“Fine. Fine!” Begrudgingly, you faced Delilah. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable with my actions.”

She didn’t look upset at all. In fact, she looked as though she were desperately trying to hold back a laugh, pressing her fingertips to her mouth. “Don’t worry about it. It didn’t bother us, right Sirius?”

She looked over at him who was sitting stock still, a look upon his face like he was trying to solve the world’s hardest puzzle. You, however, were turning back to Charlie, sticking your tongue out at him.

“Are you happy now?”

“That was weirdly formal, but yeah, sure.”

You threw your hands up in exasperation.

“You wanted me to apologize. Now you’re unhappy with the way I did it? Makes me wonder why I even said anything in the first place!”

“I wasn’t unhappy with it! The way you said it was just weird! And my opinion of the apology shoudn’t matter anyway!”

“You were the one who wanted me to do it!”

“That’s because it was the right thing to do!”

“Will the two of you move on already?” Nymphie’s shout had the two of you swiveling your heads toward her. “For as much as you have to reign her in, I’m left to reign you two in when you get like this! Don’t make me take my wand out again!”

You looked down, face heating up in shame. The plate of desserts slowly slid across the table and into your field of view.

“Truce?”

Your spirits were immediately lifted as you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him down to plant a sloppy, wet kiss to his cheek. You released him just as quickly and grabbed a cookie to stuff in your mouth, bouncing in your seat. Munching on your treat, you made a silence promise to yourself. You’d get him back later.

* * *

Fortunately for you, an opportunity for payback came sooner rather than later. You had been sitting quietly and picking various sweets off of the plate, lost in your own thoughts. The others were engrossed in conversation, bits and pieces filtering through your ears every now and again.

“Where’s your date, Charlie?” Nymphadora’s voice cut through your musings. “Molly said you were bringing them.”

You snapped out of it in time to see Charlie making a cutting motion across his throat. When he caught you staring, he dropped his hand and gave you a sheepish smile.

“You’re dating someone?” The hurt was clear in your voice. “And you didn’t tell me?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact. He opened his mouth to respond, but you cut him off, pouncing on him with a barrage of questions.

“Who are they? What’s their name? Where did you meet? How long has this been going on? How _far_ has it gone? Are they good in bed? Will we get to meet them? I wanna meet them!”

He held his hands up in front of him as if to stem the flow of words you shot his way. He sent Nymphadora a steely glare before looking back at you, who was now staring up at him with starry eyes.

“This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you.”

“Because I ask questions?”

“Because you ask _embarrassing_ questions.”

You blew your lips together, a ‘pbfft’ sound leaving your mouth. “Sure, but that never seemed to bother you before.”

“We’ve never had an audience before.”

“Suck it up, mister. You embarrassed me before so now it’s my turn.”

His eyebrows raised. “ _That’s_ what this is about? I thought you were being unusually nosy.”

“Little bit of column a, little bit of column b.” You shrugged. “So??”

“We—it didn’t really work out.”

You deflated almost immediately, gracing him with a pitying look. Placing your hand in his hair, you tousled it before dropping your palm to his shoulder to rub it soothingly. “Aw, I’m sorry to hear that. They don’t know what they’re missing out on.”

“Don’t feel sad about it. I’m definitely not.” He placed his hand over yours, shrugging the shoulder they rested on. His hand suddenly tightened, and your face dropped in horror as his began to stretch into a mischievous one. “And what of your love life, hmm?”

Your heart felt as though it tripled in speed as it slammed itself against your chest. Mouth suddenly dry as the desert, you attempted to swallow the newly formed lump in your throat. No. This was supposed to be _his_ payback. How did he always manage to turn it around on you? You were saved from answering by the sound of Nymphie’s snort.

“More like a lack thereof.”

Did you say saved? You meant that you were flung further into doom.

Charlie responded with a pitying look of his own. He brought the hand he was holding down into his lap, giving it a couple of strokes with his thumb.

“Whatever happened to—what’s his name?” He snapped his fingers a few times, gesturing over to Nymphie for a refresher. “Asshole? Dickhead?”

She bounced in her seat, pointing back excitedly. “Oh, oh! You mean Slimeball?”

“Tristan,” you grumbled.

“Yeah, that’s the bastard. Whatever happened to him?”

You pulled your hand away to pluck the sunglasses off of your head, fiddling with it until you were looking at yourself in the reflective lenses. You answered with a nonchalant shrug.

“Shotgun wedding.”

The squawk that left his lips had you jumping in your seat. His mouth opened and closed as he spluttered while his eyes were planted firmly on your abdomen. You folded the sunglasses up in your hands, giving him a good whack atop his head.

“Not to me, obviously! And that was six years ago, Charlie, keep up with the times!”

He nodded furiously, rubbing the spot you had assaulted. “Right, right, obviously.”

“I’d say it’s all for the best, anyway,” Nymphie added. “That guy was a certified douchenozzle.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what you get for dating a Slytherin.” He shoved a forkful of cake into his mouth, not pausing to finish his bite before he went on. “They just like to use you and abuse yo—oof!”

You landed a hard backhand below his ribs. “Not all Slytherins are like that, you oaf.”

He swallowed whatever he managed to keep in his mouth, sending an apologetic, almost frightful, glance over your head.

“Bad move there, Charlie-boy. Don’t you remember how much of a soft spot this one’s got for ‘em?”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes over to her.

“I do not have a ‘soft spot’ for them,” you curved your fingers in air-quotes, “but I must admit that I do go a little weak in the knees for a bad boy.”

You turned your hands to make finger guns, cocking your thumbs and clicking your tongue, as you sent a saucy wink to Sirius. Everyone knew his reputation, and with your newly freed inhibitions, you weren’t afraid to convey that it attracted you as well. You were awarded with another adorable flush.

“Hah! Are you kidding?” A loud guffaw came from your left. “Bad boy? You dated Barnaby Lee from your fourth to sixth year, and he was the farthest thing from a ‘bad boy’.” Charlie imitated your air-quotes motion. “But do you know what he _was_?”

He held his hand out to Nymphadora, and they nodded before leaning into you, speaking in a simultaneous, conclusive tone.

“A Slytherin.”

Feeling the heat rise to your cheeks you kept your attention solely on the sunglasses in your hand. You fiddled with the legs, chewing on the inside of your cheek to bide your time. Coming up with nothing, you slammed the glasses onto the table and pushed your hands back through your hair.

“Okay, yeah, fine, okay! So, I may have canoodled with a Slytherin or two.” You missed the way Charlie mouthed the word ‘canoodled’ with a bewildered look. “But that’s solely because they were the only ones my line worked on!”

Triplet groans rang throughout the table.

“Ugh, not the line!”

“What’s wrong with the line?” You thrust a finger at Remus. “And how do you even know about it?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it, per se...” Charlie started, grabbing your attention.

“It’s just super lame!” Nymphie finished.

“It is not!” You shouted indignantly.

“What’s the line?”

The almost rushed way the question was asked divulged the speaker’s curiosity. A Cheshire-wide grin split your lips as you turned to them, bouncing your eyebrows in a flirtatious manner. “You really wanna know?”

“Sirius, mate, I say this with only the best of intentions,” Remus reached over to clap him on the shoulder, “but I really don’t think you want to find out what it is.”

“It can’t possibly be any worse than anything I’ve tried. Besides, I’m always looking for new material.”

Sirius, seemingly having snapped out of whatever trance your actions placed him in, sent you a sly wink of his own causing you to titter behind an open palm. A light weight felt as though it had just been lifted off your shoulders. The slight flirtations you were sending each other reminded you of how it used to be, and you felt yourself breathing a little easier for the first time in months.

“If you insist,” Remus conceded, leaning back into his chair. “And to answer your previous question, must I remind you of to whom I am married?”

You shrugged noncommitally, stood, and froze. Gesturing between yourself and Delilah you asked, “You mind if we switch real quick?”

She jumped up with an enthusiatic nod, quickly making her way over to your chair while you meandered your way into hers. Once seated, you poured yourself some water into a wine glass before picking it up and settling back into your chair. You crossed your legs and swirled the water in the glass, bringing it up to your lips to take a delicate sip. Your eyes were kept firmly in front of you.

Sirius called your name, unsure. A few moments passed. He called you again, reaching a hand out to gently tap your knee. You pushed his hand away before he could make contact, earning you a confused grunt. Closing your eyes, you took another small sip and sighed.

“I’m so glad I was kind enough to set the scene by sitting down at this _bar_.”

You opened your eyes again at the sound of his soft, understanding ‘oh’. He chuckled lowly and shifted in his seat. Not fully able to see what he was doing, as you hadn’t taken your eyes off of the tree in the distance, you were only mildly shocked when you saw him pop up in your peripheral. Your demeanor remained unchanged as he leaned an elbow onto the table to prop up his head, pushing him further into your view.

“Excuse me, miss? Is this seat taken?”

You barely gave him a side-eyed glance, taking another sip.

“It is now, since you’ve apparently decided to sit in it.”

You smirked to yourself at the sound of his sharp inhale. Just because this was going to end with you hitting on him, it didn’t mean you weren’t going to make it him work for it first. Plus, when were you ever going to get the chance to flirt with him like this again? You were going to milk this opportunity for everything it’s got, you’d figured.

He still hadn’t said a word, and you turned your head ever so slightly towards him.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?”

“N-no, I just thought—“

At the sound of his flustered voice your smirk grew even wider, making it even harder to hide. You knew the second he caught onto your game as you watched him go from being at a loss to donning his own mischievous smile.

“I was merely afraid I had fallen asleep. Because you, sweetheart, are a dream.”

He punctuated his statement by plucking up the hand you had been resting on your lap and bringing your knuckles to his lips.

That was the moment you knew you fucked up. What were you thinking, attempting to play a player at his own game? You hardly made it out of the gate without your heart working itself into a tizzy! The heat radiated out of your chest as it crawled up your neck and to the tips of your ears. You took a sip of water to cool yourself down. It didn’t work.

“What’s the matter?” He was leaning in closer now, so close that the force of his breath displaced your hair. “Cat got _your_ tongue?”

Your hand tightened around his—was he still holding your hand? WHY was he still holding your hand??—and you felt the heat spread to your cheeks. Pursing your lips together, you grit your teeth and released a laugh through your nose. You wouldn’t let yourself be taken down this easily.

“Sorry, I was just trying to figure out if you seriously thought that would work on me.”

You kept your eyes focused slightly off-kilter to his face. If he looked into them he would surely find that it did, very much so, work on you.

He hummed, adjusting the grip he had on your hand to wrap his fingers around your wrist. “Hate to break it to you, but something tells me that it did.”

The lightest touch ghosted over your pulse point, and it jumped, only further proving his point. Silently cursing your overactive heart, you bit down hard on your lip before swiping your tongue over it in a soothing manner. It garnered the expected response—his gaze shooting down to your mouth— and you leaned in even closer.

“And if I said it did?”

“Then I’d definitely believe I was dreaming. And I don’t want to wake up any time soon.”

Your eyes lit up with a joy that you immediately tampered down. This was it, you thought. Placing the glass down, you shifted forward in your seat to trail two fingers up his exposed forearm. His breath hitched.

"Sounds like your bed is mighty lonely," you said, voice falling into a sensual tone. Your hand continued to travel up, gripping his firm bicep before draping itself over his shoulder up to the nape of his neck, curling a finger around the strands that were bundled there.

His muscles contracted under your fingertips as he swallowed. You removed your hand from his grasp and placed it firmly on his chest where you could feel the heavy _thump-thump-thumping_ of his heart. Hands flew to your waist to steady you when you leaned in ever closer, practically sitting in his lap. You brushed the tip of your nose against his, lips a hairbreadth away from each other as you spoke.

“Mind if I...” you dragged your nose across his cheek and up to his ear to deliver the final blow, _“Slytherin?”_

The blood rushed to your ears, pounding with the adrenaline rush you received from your terrible pun. Not wanting to loudly laugh directly into Sirius’ ear, you bit down on your tongue and sat back in your seat. He let you go easily enough, and you noticed he looked as though his brain had short-circuited, freezing him on the spot.

“So, what’d ya think?” You nudged your knee against his, wanting a reaction. “Not a bad line, eh?”

He swallowed again, blinking rapidly as if to clear a fog in his mind. He opened his mouth, then closed it. Opened it once more, bouncing his jaw like he was trying to work whatever was on the tip of his tongue out into the air between you. There was nothing. He truly seemed to be at a loss for words.

A snort. Then low chuckles. Finally bleeding into full-bellied laughter. Your attention was drawn to the other side of the table where Severus was shaking in his seat with the force of his amusement.

You threw your hands up in victory, then pointed your finger across the table.

“See! That’s proof right _there_! Everyone else looks at me like I’ve grown another head,” you gestured toward Sirius, who had finally gotten his bearings enough to send a glare across the table, “but not Slytherins. They always, _always_ laugh!”

Severus quickly regained his composure, discreetly wiping a tear from his eye. He sat back up and crossed his arms over his chest, once again taking on the persona of no-nonsense but with a sense of mirth dancing in his eyes.

“I apologize. I truly wasn’t expecting to hear such a line, and I admit it caught me quite off guard.”

A wicked grin spread across Delilah’s face, and you suddenly felt very afraid. She turned to him, plastering on a falsely innocent smile.

“But, Professor, if this is the first time you’re hearing it, then how did you come to be her date for the party?”

Your hand met your forehead in a resounding slap. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! You had been doing so well to avoid any indication of your faux-date, and now here it was, dragged into the light in all its glory. Why had Delilah brought this up of all things? You supposed it was perhaps payback? To remind you that the man with whom you had been getting handsy with lately was not yours to do so while simultaneously shoving down your throat the facade in which you so willingly participated? Or maybe, a small voice piped up on the recollection that her eyes had not been focused on you but somewhere to your left, the payback was not yours at all?

However, Sirius was not your main concern right now. No, that belonged to the man who was sitting on your right. You dragged your eyes over to Charlie, who was staring at Delilah, a forkful of cake halfway up to his mouth. He blinked twice, slowly bringing the food back down to the plate before swiftly turning his attention on you. You winced at the predatory gleam in his eyes.

Charlie was a shark. And he had just smelled blood in the water.

“What’s this now?”

You dropped your head into your hands with a groan.

“Don’t do this to me,” you murmured. “Not here, not like this.”

“No, I’m sorry, but I could have sworn I heard her say that your date is _Snape_?”

“Charlie, if you ever loved me you would shut your mouth right. Now.”

Whether it was your tone of voice, how vehemently you were trying to end the conversation, or if he already put the pieces together and wanted to watch you squirm, he did shut his mouth. Only to open it right back up with wave after wave of raucous laughter. The table shook with every slap of his palm against the surface of it, and you placed your forehead on the linen-covered surface, along for the ride.

“Mister Weasley, I had no idea that the mere prospect of our date would be so humorous to you.”

Your nose scrunched up in confusion. He sounded oddly...miffed. Offended, almost. There was no time to focus on that as Charlie’s laughter only got louder.

“No, no, no Professor, you’ve got me all wrong! I’m not laughing at you, I’m laughing at her!”

Your head shot up with a searing glare. “Is that supposed to be better?!”

He ignored you, leaning over to address Nymphie, who was currently trying to hide her snickers behind a palm. “Did you know about this?”

“Of course I did! I was the first one she told.”

“You _what_ ,” you heard Sirius hiss at her.

Her laughter was cut short as she whispered something back to him. But over the roaring in your ears and Charlie’s obnoxious guffaws, it was hard to hear anything as they continued to trade hushed words.

You could die on the spot. Right there where you sat, rubbing your index fingers over your temples. Just straight up drop dead. It always ended up this way whenever you drank with these two, and you wonder why you even do it anymore. They wanted to tease you in front of everybody? Then you wouldn’t let it get to you. It was all going to be fine. Just fine. Fine, fine—

“FINE!”

You sat straight up in your seat and slammed your hands on the table, drawing everyone’s attention.

“You all want to know what’s so funny? Huh? You guys want to know why these two chuckleheads won’t stop laughing at me?” You pointed at Delilah. “You want to know why I did so well in potions your sister felt the need to have you bully me?”

She reared back, a look of panic on her face as her eyes darted to Sirius. You made a mental note to clear everything up with him later, slightly guilty that you might have caused a rift between them. Right now, though, you were too far down into digging your own grave.

“It’s because I had a big, stinking crush on the professor, that’s why!”

You fell back into your chair, deflated, and wrapped your fingers around the water-filled wine glass, fiddling with it. You sent Nymphie and Charlie identical twin glares. “Are you two bozos happy now?”

She burst out in laughter, raising her glass to tap her knife against it.

“Ding, ding, ding! There it is, folks! We have finally reached the level of drunk it takes for this one to admit her widely known crush on Professor Snape! What are we, four shots in?”

“And three mimosas,” you added through gritted teeth.

Charlie scoffed next to you. “Is that all? I’d say that’s a new record low!”

You leaned forward and dropped your elbows onto the table, subsequently dropping your head into your open palms with a groan.

“I hate the both of you.”

“You love us!”

“No, actually, I don’t,” you rebutted, turning your head to send her another scathing glance.

You froze in your movements. The expression that you saw on Sirius’ face could only be described as absolutely resentful. He was furiously scowling, brows pulled together and lips curling in a hateful glare. His knuckles were bone white, clutched around the tumbler he brought up to his lips. He took a sip from his glass, eyes never leaving his target.

Raising your head, you peered through your fingertips to see who or what had sparked his ire. You were unsurprised to see a smugly smirking Severus looking back at him. Something unpleasant twisted in your stomach, and you WERE shocked to find how much you disliked that he was almost egging him on. It wasn’t fair that your childish infatuations were being used like that, and you found yourself scrambling to explain.

“A-anyway, it was all innocent admiration for the most part. Nothing untoward, I swear!”

You grabbed his wrist, almost in desperation for him to believe what you were saying. Startled, he turned his glare on you, face softening the slightest when he was met with your pleading eyes.

You didn’t know where your head was at anymore. In the beginning, you were all for making Sirius jealous. But now, after seeing how hurt he’d react every time you and Severus interacted with each other, you realized that you just wanted him to be happy. And if he had decided that it was Delilah that made him so, then you needed to stop playing games and just let him go. It may hurt your heart immensely, but you never wanted to be the type of person who held the one they loved back.

Unfortunately, completely oblivious to your internal struggle and riding the high of being able to tease you again, Charlie opened his big, fat gob.

“Sure, it might have started out innocent, but by your seventh year I distinctly remember you saying you wished for him to ‘really teach you a lesson’, isn’t that right?”

That was it. You were furious. So angry you were, it was all a blur as you jumped to your feet, grabbed a cookie from the plate, and shoved it into his open mouth. You paid no attention to his coughs as you ground out your words.

“Would you _shut_. _Up_? I’m telling you, I’ve moved on!”

And then. _Then_.

“Yeah, haven’t you heard,” Nymphie snorted. “She’s moved on to following Sirius around with puppy eyes, wondering when he’ll finally figure out that she’s hopelessly in love with him.”

Your jaw dropped. Your stomach dropped. Your heart plummeted directly to your feet. It felt as though all of the air had been sucked out of your immediate vicinity, trapping you in a soundless, suffocating bubble. Pale faced and wide-eyed, you slowly craned your neck to look at the person whom you considered to be your best friend—and had just ruined your life.

And you truly did feel ruined. Your friendships were ruined, your reputation was ruined, and now your trust in her was utterly demolished. How could she do this to you? It was only when your devastated face met her humored one did she seem to realize exactly what she had said, her face draining of blood as she slapped both her hands over her mouth. Her own wide eyes stared down at the shot glass in front of her.

“I-I—it just slipped out, I...” she trailed off, but you didn’t care to hear what she said anyway.

You needed to leave. Everything in you was screaming to get out, out, _Out_. Your breath was coming out in pants, black spots were starting to form at the edges of your vision, and your fists were clenched so tightly you were afraid you were drawing blood. You were moments away from having a full-on panic attack, and yet you. Could. Not. _Move_.

A soft voice called you, questioningly. Sirius.

His voice was enough to kick your ass into gear. More than anything, what you were most afraid of right now was having to face him as he officially rejected you. Maybe he hadn’t heard her, you stupidly tried to reassure yourself, and he was asking to see if you had. Either way, you weren’t sticking around to find out. You kicked out your chair from behind you, not caring when it fell backwards onto the ground. You were leaving. You were leaving NOW, and nothing was going to stop you. Spinning on your foot, you started to walk away from the table.

A firm hand grasped your wrist.

You halted in your steps but refused to look down at him. He called you again, giving your wrist a gentle tug.

“Look at me, please,” he whispered. You squeezed your eyes closed and shook your head. “Please?”

It was only how forlorn he sounded that finally convinced you to slide your lids open and cock your head to look at him. He was staring at you, unblinking, his ocean eyes swimming with something unreadable. He spoke so quietly, he practically mouthed the words.

“Is it true?”

The question choked you up. “Huh?”

“What she said,” he swallowed, putting more strength into his voice, “is it true?”

So he _had_ heard. You knew it was foolish to think otherwise. Your silence and the way you averted your eyes from his gaze must have been all the answer he needed. He opened his mouth to speak, but you cut him off, your heart unable to handle hearing him actually say the words.

“It’s okay. I know that you...well, I know. And it’s okay. And it’s fine. I’m fine. I understand. And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—I’m sorry,” you were babbling now, but you couldn’t stop now, repeating the word ‘sorry’ over and over and over again.

His confused visage blurred as your eyes filled with tears. They bubbled over and spilled onto your cheeks in a steady stream. You wiped them away harshly before wrenching your hand out of his grasp.

“I-I have to go.”

He reached for you again, but you were quicker, side stepping out of his range to make your way around the table and towards the house. You had only made it a few steps when—

“I’m sorry!”

Her words made you pause. Oh, sorry? She was _sorry_? You’d show her sorry.

You slowly turned to face her, tears still flowing down your face and over the sardonic smile you now sported.

“Go fuck yourself, Nymphadora.”

With an angered thought of ‘fuck this’, you apparated away.

* * *

You were laying on your back in bed, feet facing the head while your head was at the foot, a pillow planted firmly on top of your face. You had removed your shoes the moment you apparated yourself into the bed and thrown them in a random direction, not giving an iota of a care as to where they landed. Tears were no longer falling as freely as they had been, partly because there was a pillow plastered on your face, but also because you had managed to wrangle them into quiet sobs.

If you knew that you were going to end the day in what was basically the same position you started it, you would have never come in the first place.

The muffled sound of apparition had you groaning, throwing your hands overhead to press the pillow even further into your face.

“How did I know you’d be here?”

“Go away!”

The force you put behind the statement was much less effective when it ended up coming out as garbled noise, unable to penetrate through the fluffy material of the pillow.

“I’m finding myself hard-pressed to have to ‘go away’ when this is _my_ room.”

You rolled your eyes, the effort again having no effect when unseen.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to get your dirty ass feet off of where I rest my head.”

Swiping the pillow off your face and onto your abdomen, you hastily sat up on your elbows with a gasp.

“I do _not_ have dirty feet!”

“There she is.”

Charlie was standing over you, looking down with a soft grin. Embarrassed, you flopped back down and lifted the pillow to resmother yourself. He shot his hand out, smacking the middle of it hard enough to send your arms flying down.

“Nuh-uh. No more of that.” He dropped on to the bed next to you, his head on the opposite side. The silence hung between you for a moment, and you reveled in it, letting memories of every single time you found yourselves in this position in the past wash over you. He brought it all crashing down with a deep sigh. “Talk to me.”

Still wanting to be stubborn, you closed your eyes with a huff.

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

He shifted, the movement jostling you from side to side.

“So there’s nothing you want to say to Tonks?”

“You know, I cannot _believe_ she would out me like that! I mean, what was she thinking?!”

Her name had barely been out of his mouth before the anger at what she had done was reignited in you. You bolted upright into a sitting position with your outburst, absolutely irate, only to be met with the sight of a smug-faced Charlie who rested on his elbows, looking up at you. Once again realizing you had been duped, you forcefully bopped him on the head with the pillow.

“Ow! Don’t hit me because I’m right!”

“I’m hitting you because you’re annoying!”

He gave you a shit-eating grin. “Still right, though.”

Scowling, you lifted the pillow above your head, bringing it down on him. He caught it mid-swing, wrestling it from your grip with ease and tossing it to the foot of the bed. All of your actions were reminiscent of your school years, and your face softened at the thought. It was quickly erased with an agonizing groan as you brought your knees up to your chest and tucked your chin into the valley between your kneecaps.

“I don’t know what to do, Charlie-bear. It’s all over for me.”

He sighed contemplatively, cupping a hand on your cheek to wipe away the fresh tears that had started to fall.

“Look, I’m not going to pretend to really know what’s going on, but what I do know is that whomever has the audacity to make you cry like this doesn’t deserve any of your love.”

The statement warmed you, and you sent him a watery smile before quickly dropping it again.

“But I’m a huge crybaby! Does that mean I’ll never find love?”

HIs face also dropped, becoming more stoic, and the thumb he was using to swipe across your cheek was joined by his pointer as he gave your face a sharp pinch.

“Now you’re just being melodramatic.”

You smacked his hand away, rubbing softly at your cheek to soothe the stinging sensation he left on your face, mumbling.

“I was just kidding.”

You knew he was right, about all of it, and even though it didn’t help to ease the heartbreak, you found you were feeling just a little bit better about yourself. Another small smile made its way onto your lips, eyes crinkling at just how happy you were to have a friend like him.

“Thanks, Charlie. You always were the best at knowing what to say.”

He smiled back brightly, shrugging one shoulder.

“Meh, comes with the territory of being the second oldest of seven. You learn pretty quickly how to diffuse situations and get people smiling again.” He passed a hand over your hair and settled it on your back, rubbing it in comfort. “Besides, they’d have to be blind or dumb to not realize how they look at you, and I’m not just going to hand you over to anyone like that.”

You laughed. Then his words truly settled in.

“Wait, they?”

“Hmm?”

“You said ‘they’. Who’s they?”

He blanched and retracted his hand to rub at the back of his neck.

“I—you must have heard me wrong...” His lips twisted as though he had tasted something sour, and his voice sounded strained, face turning red with the effort to speak.

There was no way you were letting this go now.

“Come on, just tell me—“

Charlie had never felt more relieved to have a girl on his bed and be interrupted by knocking at his door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, who’s at the door? 
> 
> ...no, seriously, who do you want to be at the door? I did say you would get a choice, didn’t I? 😏
> 
> Honestly, though, I just want to say thank you again for all of the love I’ve received on this story so far, and even though it started out strictly as a Sirius fic, I accidentally endeared you (and myself, let’s be honest) to the one and only Severus. And because of that, you, my lovelies, will get TWO endings!
> 
> So, who’s it gonna be? Sirius or Severus?
> 
> I’ll be putting out both chapters at the same time, so no one will have to wait longer for their love! Hope you guys are looking forward to it!
> 
> XOXO


	6. Part VI.i - Sirius’ End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: For Severus’ end, please go to the next chapter.

Charlie stood up and walked to the door, giving you one last look before he opened it.

“You sure you’re going to be okay?”

You turned over to lay on your stomach, shoved a pillow underneath your chin to prop up your head, and placed your hands underneath the pillow for extra cushion. You turned your head to look out the window, resting your cheek on the cool material.

“Yeah, I’ll survive. And tell Tonks that I forgive her.”

“Oh, _Tonks_ , huh? I see we’ve forgiven her quickly.”

You laughed lightly and shrugged your shoulders.

“She knows I can’t stay mad at her. Hell, you can even say I called her Dora, if you’d like.”

“I’ll be sure to do so.” There was another knock on the door, a little more insistent this time. “Alright, alright, I’m coming!”

You heard the sound of the door creaking on its hinges as Charlie opened it, along with his surprised grunt.

“Oh. It’s _you_.” He paused. “You _better_ make her happy.”

With the tone in which Charlie was talking, you had a feeling you already knew who was standing on the other side of the doorframe. No further words were exchanged, but you listened to the rustling of clothing as Charlie exited and the other person entered. The floorboards groaned beneath their feet as they stepped closer to where you lay on the bed. You squeezed your eyes shut and kept your face to the window, unable to look at them.

“You probably think I’m a complete fool, huh?”

The words escaped you in a rush of air, leaving you wishing you could cram them back into your mouth.

They took another tentative step, and you could almost feel their gaze as they loomed over you.

“I don’t think you’re a fool at all,” they whispered. A creak as they shifted on their feet. “May I sit?”

You quietly shifted over to your left, dragging the pillow along with you. The bed dipped with their weight as they sat not mere inches away from your head. The two of you sat like that in silence for a few moments, before you could no longer take it. Pushing yourself up on your forearms, you swung your head over to face them.

Anything you were going to say died on your lips as you saw how downtrodden he looked. He had his hands clasped tightly in his lap, his head bent as he stared at them unblinkingly. You rested your cheek back on the pillow, facing him instead. The silence continued.

“I’m the one that’s been a fool.”

It was said so softy that, for a moment, you believed you had imagined it. You shifted forward on the pillow towards him, accidentally nudging his thigh with your elbow. He inhaled sharply at the touch but didn’t move away. Shifting forward again, you attempted to capture his attention.

“Sirius?”

His icy blue eyes met yours, searching. He must not have liked what he saw because he let out a humorless chuckle before moving his hands up to run through his hair, only to run into his earlier problem leading him to do the smoothe-and-tug move from earlier. He jumped to his feet and made his way to the door, still chuckling.

“What are you doing here? Just leave her alone already.”

Though he was talking to himself, you still heard him loud and clear, and you knew he was going to run away. Again. Having had enough, you leaped from the bed and whipped your wand out to point at the door, slamming it closed and locking it in his face. He turned to look at you, stunned.

“Don’t even think about it, Sirius Black. I’m not letting you escape this time. We are having this conversation once and for all.”

He continued to stare as you tucked your wand back into your rear pocket before you cocked your hip to the side and crossed your arms, giving him a stern look.

“So, you going to start talking or what?”

“I...I don’t—“

“Cut the bullshit, Sirius! I’m tired of it already! I’m tired of dealing with the tug-of-war games you seem to enjoy playing with my heart. I’m tired of pretending to be okay while I have to sit there and watch you with Delilah. I’m just _tired_.”

He sighed in defeat, deflating with the action. “What is it that you want me to say?”

“Why don’t you answer your own question first? What _are_ you doing here? Why did you come after me?”

“That’s—“

“Was it so that you can attempt to let me down gently? Because let me tell you, we’re _way_ past that!”

 _“No,_ I was—“

“So what is it, Sirius? I already stupidly gave you my love and now you have my dignity. What more could you possibly want to take from me?”

“I’m not trying to take anything from you. I just—“

“What are you trying to do, then, huh?”

“I’m _trying_ to tell you that I’m love with you, too!”

Your heart stuttered in your chest before dropping like a stone into your stomach. All of your shouting left you heaving in your breaths, and you were afraid that that combined with the fact that your mind was still fuzzy from all the shots had you hearing things. On shaky legs, you moved back to the bed and fell onto it as they finally gave out.

“What did you just say?”

Your whisper was harsh, betraying your turmoiled emotions, and he winced.

“I said,” he started, slowly creeping towards you, “that I am unbelievably, utterly, incredibly, and _painfully_ ” he stopped in front you, dropping to his knees and taking your hands in his as he looked up to deliver his final words, “in love with you.”

Your mind spun, and you felt light-headed.

“I don’t understand...”

“I know, sweetheart. I know.”

The pet name sent your heart racing. He moved a hand to cup your cheek but you reared back from it, still trying to wrap your mind around the turn things had taken. Sirius, for his part, didn’t look hurt by it, reluctantly accepting your reaction as he dropped his hand back to hold yours.

“But, you and Delilah...?”

“Sweetheart, there _is_ no me and Delilah.”

Your heart flipped. Now that he started calling you that, it was almost as if he didn’t want to stop. You just continued to stare.

“I promise I will explain everything, but do you mind if I sit next to you? If I could I would go through it all right here, but I’m old and my knees aren’t what they used to be,” he chuckled softly.

Brain still short-circuiting, you merely mumbled, “Sure.”

He stood up with a grunt and sat back on the bed next to you, your thighs now pressed against each other. And even though your hand remained limp in his, he never let it go, bringing it into his lap and threading his fingers through yours as if it were an effort to ground himself.

“Where do I even start?”

“From the beginning would be nice.”

Well, it was nice to know your sarcasm didn’t depend on whether or not your brain functioned. A short laugh was huffed through his nose.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. I guess I should first explain what happened the night of our date.”

Your hand, along with the rest of your body, stiffened, and he immediately brought it up to his lips to place a tender kiss to the tips. The heat from his mouth seared itself into your veins, shooting straight to your rapidly beating heart. You were finally about to find out what happened that night, and you weren’t sure if you were fully prepared. Your fists tightened, subsequently causing you to squeeze Sirius’ hand in your own.

“I’m sorry, love, but I have to. That night, when you got up from the table to head to the restroom, I...I overheard a couple of the waiters talking. You don’t need to know exactly what they said,” he explained before you could ask, “but it was eye-opening for me. There you were—a smart, talented, gorgeous girl—and you were considering a relationship with _me_? An old ex-convict, Azkaban escapee whose only good trait is the charm with which he uses to seduce women? No, I couldn’t do that to you.

“So, I took the coward’s way out. I pulled away from you, hoping that the harsh way I rejected you would cause you to hate and eventually forget about me. Except,” he scoffed and shook his head. “I couldn’t forget about you. You were the best thing that was about to happen to me, and I didn’t want to let you go. But I felt like I had to for your own good. And so I did the only thing I knew best—I went out and got drunk.

“It worked the first couple of nights. I never found another woman, it felt too much like I was cheating on you in a way, but I would drink until I blacked out just so that I didn’t have to live with seeing the look of hurt on your face every time I closed my eyes. I was in the middle of one of those nights when Delilah found me.”

Your throat tightened at the way he laughed at the memory, almost in fondness. Another smooth-and-tug motion had you glaring at the leather band that was visible in your peripheral. He didn’t seem to notice your reaction as he moved on.

“I was having a really rough time that night, basically lamenting all the ways I had messed up with you to anyone who’d listen. Which, to no one’s surprise, was merely the bartender who didn’t really have a choice. Halfway passed out across the bar and drunk out of my mind when she came sidling up to me, asking if I was alright. I ended up spilling my guts to her right then and there, literally.

“Saint that she was she brought me to her home, cleaned me up, and left me to sleep my drunken stupor off on her couch. The next morning she sat me down in front of a mug of coffee, a vial of hangover potion, and stern instructions to tell her everything I was going through. After listening to my woes, she gave me a right good smack about the head and called me a massive idiot.”

He rubbed his cheek as if to soothe an ache he remembered feeling.

“Then she came up with the ‘master plan to end all master plans’ in an attempt to get you back. Her words, not mine. Basically, I was going to bring her home to meet you, she was going to befriend you to find out whether or not I still had a chance, all the while helping me become a better person worthy enough to be your partner. But we never saw you that night, so I didn’t get to introduce the two of you. We started having her come over more and more often to maybe catch you at a better time, but when she stayed over that night and you never left your room, it was looking like we would never succeed.

“And that’s all it ever was with her, I swear. She always slept in a guest bedroom when she stayed the night, and she always left first thing the next morning. Of course, you never knew that because you stopped leaving your room, but I want to make it perfectly clear to you that nothing ever happened with her. Ever. And now you know everything.”

“But...but Nymphie told me that you would—that she’d heard stories. From you.”

“Ah yes, good old Dora. Well, we knew you would inevitably tell her that Delilah was coming around every night, and I couldn’t very well tell her our plans without her blabbing to you, so I had to embellish a bit. And I already knew you placed silencing charms around your doors every night, so it’s not like you would have been able to hear otherwise. Again, I am truly sorry for having put you through that.”

He finished with a sigh, turning to you with small flicker of hope in his eyes. You gave him the blankest of blank stares.

“That...is the _dumbest_ shit I have ever heard.”

He winced.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? You’re _sorry_? Weeks of agonizing over the fact that my school bully was your new love interest, _months_ of thinking I was the one who wasn’t good enough, and all you have to say about that is sorry?! Not to mention, you were going to have your so-called new best friend _spy_ on me as a way to get me back? Are you kidding me?!”

“You’re right, it was completely wrong of me! I was a foolish, foolish man who was desperate enough to try anything, okay?”

“Not desperate enough to just _talk_ to me, apparently! Delilah was right, you are a massive idiot!”

_FLOOMPH!_

Sirius’ body shot backwards onto the bed, bouncing with the force of his landing. You looked at your hand in shock, where the pillow that had been used to propel him back with a well placed smack across the face was gripped tightly in your fist. You overcame the shock quickly and now fueled by anger, you threw your leg over his hip to straddle him and swung the pillow down repeatedly.

“You!” _SMACK!_ “Are!” _SMACK!_ “So!” _SMACK!_ “Dumb!” _SMACK!_

He took each hit quietly, only holding his arms out to block each of your blows.

“And you know what the dumbest part about all of this is?” The tears were flowing out of your eyes and down your cheeks freely now, blurring your vision of him as you prepared yourself for another swing. “It’s that while you were so busy feeling sorry for yourself and deciding you weren’t good enough for me, you seemed to forget that I already knew the _real_ you.”

You sobbed loudly and tossed the pillow to the side, dropping your hands to the bed on either side of his head as you leaned over him, your tears falling off of your cheeks to splash onto his. He reached a hand up to cup your cheek, wiping away fresh tears with his thumb. You didn’t pull away this time, leaning your face into him instead.

“I didn’t fall in love with the charismatic Sirius who’s main claim to fame was escaping prison. I fell in love with the Sirius who would sit with me at night by the fire and spoke to me about his favorite book he had read that month, even though he pretended he didn’t like to read. I fell in love with the man who complained when the bakery down the street was out of his guilty pleasure cruellers.

“I fell in love with the man who just needed someone to sit with him, listening as he shared his grievances about the war. I fell in love with the man who cried in my arms when he found out that I saved his best friend’s life. I fell in love with _you_ , Sirius Black, and don’t you ever think that you aren’t good enough because you are so much better than you could possibly believe.”

“You still love me?”

The question was whispered, but it rung in your ears as though he had screamed it. You blinked at him in surprise.

“Of _course_ I still love you, you si—“

Hot lips covered your own, cutting you off mid-sentence. The hand that was on your cheek wrapped around the back of your neck and pulled you into him, while his other hand buried itself in your hair. Your toes curled and your hands gripped at the fabric on his shoulders as you tucked your fingers under it to brush against his collarbone. He groaned into your mouth before pushing the two of you up into a sitting position. Playfully giving your bottom lip a nip, he pulled his face away to look down at you, love shining in his eyes.

“I love you, too. So much.”

“Yeah, I think I got that now, thanks.”

You giggled and he smiled brightly back at you, brushing a thumb across your lower lip. You sucked the tip into your mouth, giving it a playful nibble of your own. Watching as his pupils dialated did something to your insides, and you wanted MORE. Your wish was granted when he leaned down to press his lips to your ear.

“Naughty girl,” he whispered, before placing a trail of searing, open-mouthed kisses down your neck.

Your hands flew to his hair, ripping out that damned leather strap once and for all, before plunging your fingers in to tangle them in his thick curls.

“I’ve always hated that hair band,” you growled. “Can’t wait to never see you wear it again.”

“Really?” His voice was muffled as he licked the junction where your neck and your shoulder met before sucking hard, causing you to cry out. “Delilah always thought you might have liked it this way. I was the one who thought otherwise.”

You leaned back from him so suddenly that he scrambled to balance you on his knees, wrapping an arm around your back to keep you from flying backwards and onto the ground. He looked down at you, dazed and confused.

“While I appreciate the fact that she clearly knew my tastes better than you, do you mind if we don’t speak about Delilah right now?”

He gulped, nodding vigorously before leaning back in to kiss you. “Got it. Less talking, more kissing.”

You molded your lips over his, swiping your tongue over his bottom lip before sucking it into the wet heat of your mouth. You released him with a ‘pop’, but he dove right back in to twist your tongues together as you battled for dominance. He overpowered you easily enough, but damn if you didn’t enjoy the fight. Moving away, he trailed butterfly kisses to your ear and hissed.

“So beautiful... You have no idea... So unbelievably perfect...”

Now, THIS was the kind of talking you could get behind. Sirius was chatty in bed, and you _liked_ it.

“More,” you gasped into his ear. “More.”

“Such a needy little thing you are,” he had moved to the other side of your neck, and lavished his attention there. “Walking around in your tight, little shirt and expecting me not to notice. Do you even know what you’ve been doing to me all day?”

Even though you had an idea you shook your head no just to see what he would do.

He gripped your waist tightly, his hands so expansive he was able to tease his thumb just below the hemline of your top. It sent you into such a lust-filled frenzy you felt as if you were about to burst. So when he brought his lips up to your ear and whispered, ‘Shall I have you find out?’, you practically screamed.

“Yes! Gods, yes!”

Using the grip he had on your waist, he pulled your hips into his causing your core to press firmly against the growing bulge in his pants. The two of you cried out in sync, and you deliriously began to rock yourself over him slowly to relieve the tension that had been building in you. You tucked your head into the crook of his neck, kissing and nibbling your way up. He moaned loudly and pulled you closer, giving one particularly hard thrust up.

“You’re so gorgeous...and all _mine_.”

The way he growled the word sent two pings zooming through your body. One straight down to your center, and the other directly up into your brain. Gasping, you pulled back again, but only slightly.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” you pleaded breathily.

He paused in his movements without hesitation, dropping a kiss to your shoulder.

“Am I moving too fast for you, love? I’ll try to slow down, but you make it so damn difficult.”

You let out a small laugh, running your fingers through his hair and lightly scraping his scalp with your nails. “No, no, the pace is fine. Perfect, actually. There’s just one thing I need you to tell me.”

“Anything, my love. I’ll tell you anything.”

“If I’m yours, then you’re mine, right?” He nodded into your neck, a muffled ‘of course’ coming from him. “So, why is it that Delilah got the title of girlfriend before I did?”

He dropped his forehead onto your shoulder and groaned again, in distress this time. “Anything but _that_.”

“Sirius Black.”

His head shot up at the tone of your voice, and his hands swiftly came up to cup your face. “I’ll tell you, sweetheart. I’m just not proud of it.”

You sat there, patiently waiting for his explanation.

“I saw the two of you getting chummy at the table before we all arrived, and I... Oh, I saw green! By the time I realized what I had said and done, it was too late. Delilah really had a grand time pulling me to the side and chewing me out about it.”

“The two of us? You mean Severus and I?”

He pulled your face to his and kissed you soundly. “I don’t ever want to hear the phrase ‘Severus and I’ come out of your mouth in any context ever again.”

“You can’t be serious!” You exclaimed with a laugh.

“I truly, deeply am.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” you began, a teasing lilt to your voice. “Delilah is _your_ new best friend, and after today Severus very well might be _my_ new best friend, so who knows? There might be plenty of moments where _Severus and I_ will be hanging out in the future.”

With a playful growl, he swiftly stood up with you in his arms before tossing you onto the bed. He immediately replaced himself between your legs, leaning over you to pepper kisses across your cheeks.

“New deal,” he said between kisses. “No more talk of Delilah _or_ Severus for the rest of the night, hmm?”

You giggled and ran your hands down his back as you nodded. Wrapping your legs over his waist, you crossed them at the ankles and tugged them towards you, pulling his body closer into yours.

“Deal,” you moaned.

He tucked his thumb under your shirt, caressing the underside of your breast. You jerked upwards into his hand with a cry as you grabbed the lapels of his shirt to pull him into a searing kiss. He raised your shirt ever so slightly and you pulled away again, placing your palms on his shoulders to push him back.

“Wait, wait, wait.”

“You are killing me, sweetheart.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I just don’t think Charlie would appreciate us defiling his bed like this.”

He let out a low chuckle, trailing his finger delicately down your side. “You clearly haven’t noticed, but we’re already home.”

“What?”

You took a look around only to find that you were, in fact, strewn across your own bed in the home that you shared with Sirius. “When did we...?

“I apparated us here around the second or third swing of the pillow. I figured you would have preferred to have that ‘conversation’ in private.”

“Hmm, how thoughtful.”

Smirking, you wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him back into you, continuing right where you left off.

* * *

Hours later, you and Sirius were laying in bed, limbs tangled together. He passed his fingers through your hair as you rested your head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat. Your eyes stared out at nothing while your fingers danced gently across his collarbone.

“What’s on your mind, my love?”

“You really hurt me, you know.”

He paused in his movements, his whole body stiffening. Softly, he pushed you off of him so that he could turn to look down at you, brushing his hand across your cheek. His eyes were a watery blue, regret swimming in them.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I really, really am. And I swear to spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Sirius Black.”

You lifted your face to him, placing a loving kiss upon his lips.

“I love you.”

His eyes twinkled in delight.

“I love you, too.”

A loud growl emanating from your stomach broke through the atmosphere between the two of you. Laughing loudly, a mischievous grin spread across your lips. Perhaps you could have him start his lifelong promise of groveling by making him get up and fetch you something to eat.

You were _famished_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goooooooood, I finally finished it!!!! I just want to thank you all so so SO much for coming along with me on this journey.
> 
> Seriously, it’s all thanks to the love that each and every one of you has given me that actually pushed me into finishing a multi-chapter fic for the first time in literal YEARS.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed it, and I’ll see you guys in the next one! (Whenever that may be. :P)


	7. Part VI.ii - Severus’ End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: For Sirius’ end, please see the previous chapter.
> 
> TIL I can’t write a whole chapter of Snape in character, and I regret every decision I made that has led me to have to do so. Still hope you guys like it anyway!

Charlie stood up and walked to the door, giving you one last look before he opened it.

“You sure you’re going to be okay?”

You turned over to lay on your stomach, shoved a pillow underneath your chin to prop up your head, and placed your hands underneath the pillow for extra cushion. You turned your head to look out the window, resting your cheek on the cool material.

“Yeah, I’ll survive. And tell Tonks that I forgive her.”

“Oh, _Tonks_ , huh? I see we’ve forgiven her quickly.”

You laughed lightly and shrugged your shoulders.

“She knows I can’t stay mad at her. Hell, you can even say I called her Dora, if you’d like.”

“I’ll be sure to do so.” There was another knock on the door, a little more insistent this time. “Alright, alright, I’m coming!”

You heard the sound of the door creaking on its hinges as Charlie opened it, along with his surprised grunt.

“Oh, it’s _you_?” He paused. “Make her happy, yeah?”

With the tone in which Charlie was talking, you had a feeling you already knew who was standing on the other side of the doorframe. No further words were exchanged, but you listened to the rustling of clothing as Charlie exited and the other person entered. The floorboards groaned beneath their feet as they stepped closer to where you lay on the bed. You squeezed your eyes shut and kept your face to the window, unable to look at them.

“You probably think I’m a complete fool, huh?”

The words escaped you in a rush of air, leaving you wishing you could cram them back into your mouth. The bed dipped with their weight as they sat down next you, and you waited with baited breath for their answer.

“Absolutely.” You groaned, pressing your face down into the pillow. “But I suppose I am the last person to judge those who act foolishly in the name of love.”

You raised your head slightly, peeking at him out of the corner of your eye. “Wanna talk about it?”

“No.”

Sighing, you turned your head to face him fully, resting on your other cheek.

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

Silence hung over the two of you like a heavy blanket. Stifling, yet comfortable. You took this time to think about everything that transpired today to lead you where you are now, never in your wildest dreams imagining that one day you’d be laying in your childhood best friend’s bed next to your former potions professor. Honestly, you’d never imagined _anything_ like what happened today. A bubble of self-deprecating laughter burst from your lips. He raised an eyebrow in question.

“Sorry, I just—“ Another painful giggle. “I really screwed the pooch this entire day, huh?”

Tears pricked at the back of your eyes, threatening to spill from them once more. You were caught in between hysterical laughter and full on sobbing, causing you to let out short chokes of a mixture of both. Leaning on one elbow, you used the other hand to rub at your eyes, sweeping your gaze to the side and out the window.

“If that were the case, then we woudn’t be here.”

The absurdity of his statement gave you pause.

“Uh, wha...?”

He sighed, and you could almost see the accompanying eye roll. “Wasn’t the whole point of today all a ploy so you could ‘screw the pooch’, so to speak?”

Incredulous, you swung your head back towards him. What in the world was he talking abou—oh. OHHHH.

“Severus Snape,” you whispered conspiratorially, a genuine smile creeping onto your lips. “Are you making a pun?”

He didn’t look your way, merely sending you a sideways glance. “I don’t appreciate what you’re insinuating.”

Your head was thrown back with the force of your laughter. Wave after wave racked your body, and with it, you could feel the heaviness of your heart lift just the slightest.

“Insinuating? I’m not _insinuating_ anything! I’m literally asking you!”

Giggles continued to flow through you, tears leaving your eyes for an entirely different reason.

“Insinuating,” you mocked again, swiping a finger under your eye, “I can’t believe you. Has anyone ever told you that you are the funniest fucking person they’ve ever met?”

“I think you are far more intoxicated than you believe.”

“Nah, you’re totally hilarious,” you concluded, bumping his elbow with your shoulder. “But don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to.”

“The point here, that you seem to be so expertly deflecting from, is that I didn’t come up to talk about what I want. After everything that happened today, I must admit that I’m curious to know what it is that _you_ want.”

You felt as though you had been doused with cold water, immediately sobering up. That was the million dollar question, wasn’t it? Sitting at the table, you thought you had been on the verge of being able to let Sirius go. But when you were faced with the possibility of actually having to hear his rejection from his lips, you ran like the coward you felt you were. Always running, always hiding. So, what was it that you wanted? Did you want to keep fighting for what seemed to be an impossible love or did you want to start entertaining the thought of moving on?

Both options were painful, and therefore, both were scary. And you didn’t want to be scared or hurt. But you would forever be both if you continued to keep yourself in this limbo. So again, you ask yourself, what did you want?

You wanted to be _happy_. You wanted to be loved by the one you love. Cared after by the one you care for. But isn’t that what everyone wanted?

You chewed on your bottom lip in thought. Severus had sat there, patiently waiting as you tried to figure out how to answer him, and that only got the gears in your brain working double time. You wanted to know why it was him who came to your aid. Wanted to know why it wasn’t Sirius. Wanted to know if he even cared.

And then, you thought, you wanted to know why _you_ cared. You wanted to be happy, right? Well that wasn’t going to happen if you kept dwelling on someone who didn’t seem to give you a second thought. Now you found that you wanted to forget. You wanted to have a good time without any more worries. You wanted to...

The sound of music drifted through the open window that you only just realized you were staring out of again. With a jolt, you noticed that you had a perfect view of the dance floor, which was slowly filling up with couples.

“I want to dance,” you whispered.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I want to dance,” you repeated with more conviction. Rolling off of the bed and onto your feet, you had all the grace of a baby gazelle as you stumbled the two steps it took to get to Severus, steadying yourself by placing your palms on his shoulders. “With my date.”

His flabbergasted look would have been extremely humorous if you hadn’t been so determined to start enjoying yourself. He had reflexively grabbed your forearms when you leaned into him, so you slid your hands off his shoulders and into his palms, grasping them tightly. Jerking your hands back, you pulled with all your weight to get him to stand up. Still in a daze, he followed through easily enough, and you beamed up at him.

You let go of one of his hands, holding on firm to the other as you pulled him out of the room, down the stairs, and through the front door, only stopping once your feet hit the lawn. The heat from his body enveloped you as he barely kept himself from crashing into where you abruptly stood still. He looked at you, alarmed, but you were occupied with looking at something on the ground.

You wiggled your toes in the grass, feeling as each blade brushed in between the crevices and along your soles.

“I forgot I wasn’t wearing any shoes.”

“Ah.” He shifted next to you, warmth blooming throughout your arm where his grazed against as he turned to look back at the house. “ Should I—“

“No, that’s okay. It’s more fun like this anyway!” You let out a joyful laugh before continuing to tug him across the yard. “Just make sure not to step on my toes!”

* * *

Sirius’ fingers tightened around his glass as he watched you pull your date—he scowled at the word, but actively refused to acknowledge HIS name—towards the half-full dance floor.

After Dora accidentally outed your feelings and caused you to flee from the party, she had run away in hysterics, Remus swiftly following after her. Sirius, on the other hand, felt as though his heart were about to burst in his chest. This was it. This was everything he had ever dreamed to hear. So why was he sitting on his ass and not running after you?

Because you still don’t deserve her, his cruel subconscious taunted, especially not after the stunt you pulled.

He knew he had fucked up the moment he introduced Delilah as his girlfriend. But when he watched as you first sat down at the table, trading barbs and gradually looking more comfortable, with _Snivellus_ of all people? Oh, he wanted to barf. Even more so when he saw what looked like thinly-veiled amusement on that snake’s face.

In a fit of jealous rage he had said and done a stupid, stupid thing.

He scoffed at the memory of Delilah dragging him to a secluded area of the garden to chew him out for said idiotic, stupid thing. He could have sworn he still felt the ringing in his ears from how loudly she shouted. Speaking of...

He scoffed again as she sent him a glare from across the table, leaning over to whisper at him harshly.

“What in the absolute _hell_ is wrong with you?”

He knew exactly why she was so furious with him but couldn’t find it in himself to give a damn. Shortly after Charlie apparated to find where you had gone, she turned an almost expectant gaze upon him. Which, he supposed in hindsight, he should have expected. But that vindictive, little voice in his head got to him, and by the time he managed to beat it down, it was too late.

Someone else had already managed to gather the balls to go to your side.

“Fuck if I know,” he finally responded, draining the contents of his glass in one gulp.

Once again, he had doubted himself.

Once again, he hesitated just a moment too long.

And once again, he lost you.

Perhaps, he thought as he watched the way you flashed that bright smile he loved so much at someone that was not him, for good.

Sirius decided it was time for another drink.

* * *

You stood at the edge of the cordoned off dance area, watching as you swiped the tip of your foot back and forth in the grass in front of you. You hadn’t even made it onto the floor before you started to regret your rash decision.

“All that energy to drag me here, only to lose your nerve at the very end.”

Severus’ words floated down to your ears, the tips reddening with having to face the blunt truth of them. You looked up at him, pouting.

“That’s big talk coming from someone who let themselves be dragged here by a small woman.”

He returned your gaze stoically.

“Am I not allowed to be caught offguard?”

“Weren’t you supposedly a badass double agent? Isn’t it part of your description to _not_ be caught offguard?”

The slight quirk of his mouth told you that was a dumb thing to say. Your fears were quickly realized when you soon found yourself being the one dragged towards the center of the various groups of dancers. You dug your feet into the ground and pulled back on your hand to no avail, feeling as the dirt squished through your toes and his hand only gripped tighter around yours.

“Wait, wait. Severus!”

He stopped abruptly, and you sighed in relief, thinking that you might have gotten through to him. But he swiftly turned around and grasped you about the waist, pulling you into him. You stumbled with the movement, cupping his shoulder and lifting up on your tip-toes to steady yourself. Your raised position placed your face dangerously close to his, and you dropped back down with a mumbled apology, heat spreading over your cheeks.

The height difference, you noted, made dancing a bit awkward. You bounced back up onto your toes, careful to keep your face a respectable distance away from his, but you kept getting tired and had to take frequent breaks, causing for a very jerky experience. The last time you rested on the balls of your feet, he also paused, his brow creasing minutely, and you feared he was getting tired enough to to call the whole thing off.

“Get up.”

Your mouth flapped open in shock. “Sorry, I-I’m just tired! I’ll be up in a sec—“

His deep sigh shut you right up. There was a nudge at your foot, and you looked down to see that he had just tapped the side of it with the tip of his shoe.

“Get up,” he said, softer.

Your eyes widened as you finally realized what he was telling you to do. You stepped back and out of his grasp, waving your hands in front of you as you vehemently shook your head.

“Oh, n-no! I couldn’t possibly! I mean, won’t that be uncomfortable?”

His blank stare gave you the answer you already knew. He wouldn’t have suggested it if that were the case. But the thought of having to step up onto his feet like you were a child was immensely embarrassing. At least, that’s what you told yourself was the reason for your heart to beat so fast you thought it was going to burst. Not at all because you would practically be pressed up against him from head to toe.

“Won’t I be too heavy?” You tried again, desperately grasping at straws.

More staring.

“Okay, okay,” you relented, exasperation coloring your voice. “But you don’t get to complain if I end up crushing your feet.”

You slipped your palm into the one he offered you, using the leverage to place your right foot on top of his left. Biting down on your lip, you chose to just go for it, swinging your weight up and forward as you stepped onto his other shoe. You swung your arm around his neck and tucked your face into the crook of it, his arm immediately coming up to cage you in against him with a surprised grunt.

Every nerve ending felt like it had been ignited, flaring up tenfold when he finally started dancing. It was a slow movement, and you felt his muscles strain and flex with every step he took. He thankfully stayed silent, giving you a moment to wrap your head around what had just happened. As this song started to transition to the next, you relaxed your stiffened body, lifting your head up and resting your chin on top of his shoulder.

You shifted on your feet, falling into a more comfortable position as you tucked the arm that was around his neck underneath you, no longer afraid of being dropped. Letting out a content sigh, you felt almost like you were floating. Your head rested gently against his.

“I believe that’s the first time you’ve said my name all day.”

Well, that was an unexpected development. His chest rumbled as he spoke, sending such distracting vibrations through you that you completely missed what he said and almost missed saying anything at all. Your voice was barely louder than a whisper when you spoke.

“What was that?”

“Earlier. When you so adorably attempted to stop me by calling my name.”

“Oh. R-right. Well, I couldn’t just keep calling you ‘Professor’ now, could I?”

“Why not? No one else seems to have a problem doing so.”

“T-true, but no one else is on a fake date with you.”

The two of you were pressed cheek to cheek, whispering your words into each other’s ears as you swayed to the soft music. You almost wanted to laugh at the juxtaposition of such an intimate moment being interspersed with what seemed to be such a mundane conversation.

He hummed, and the sensation from the rumbling in his chest zipped up to meet the tingling in your ear, colliding in such a way that made your heart go into a frenzy and sent your mind reeling.

“That may be so, but it came out far too easily for a former student. Then again, I suppose no one else was infatuated with me as a youth, either. Perhaps that might have had something to do with it?”

You dropped your head onto his shoulder with a groan, silently cursing how loose-lipped you had been earlier.

“You don’t have to be so formal about it. I’ve already accepted that I had a schoolgirl crush on you; I’m only embarrassed that this is how you ended up finding out.”

He chuckled, tilting his head so that it rested on top of yours. “I already knew.”

You jerked back suddenly, instinctively grabbing the collar of his shirt to keep yourself from falling. There hadn’t been a need to worry as he splayed his hand across the expanse of your back, firmly keeping you in place.

“You what?!”

Your heart had decided to crawl its way up your throat and press itself against your windpipe, turning your voice into a squeaky, high-pitched mess.

An amused sigh left him as he shook his head.

“You might want to get your ears checked. You seem to be having a hard time hearing me despite how close we are.”

You ignored his playful barb, brows furrowing. Sucking your bottom lip into your mouth, you chewed on it in contemplation. So wrapped up in trying to solve the mystery of how he had been able to uncover the secret you thought you had been so coy about hiding growing up, you barely noticed when he deposited the hand he’d been holding into his other shoulder. Nor did it register when you slid that hand and the hand that had been grasping his collar up to tangle your fingers together at the nape of his neck.

A gentle tug at your chin had you releasing your lip with a gasp as you were swiftly brought back to yourself. Focusing back in, you realized you were face to face with him—he’s so close; was he always that close?—your noses brushing against each other. Flustered, you shot your eyes to his, only to find them filled with mirth.

“Thinking so hard for an answer I’ve already given.”

On the contrary, your brain was far from doing anything close to thinking. It was basically short-circuiting as you could feel the wisps of heat radiating from his mouth brushing against yours, felt as the strands of his hair brushed across the back of your fingertips at every sway, as he clasped around your waist again and pulled your chest back into his.

“Since I’m feeling generous, how about I give you a hint, hmm?”

He drew his head back, and you felt yourself lean in to follow him. When you realized what you were doing, you stopped and retracted your face, red beginning to bloom on your cheeks. You fluttered your eyelashes, frazzled. You opened your mouth to speak but got cut off as he was suddenly close again, a smirk playing at his lips.

“I knew about it the same way I know you want me to kiss you.”

“Uhm, I-I don’t—“

“Open book, remember?”

His lips finally descended upon yours, covering them in a sweet but chaste kiss. You felt him start to pull away, and used the grasp you had behind his neck to keep him connected to you, eyes closing in sheer bliss. When you could no longer hold your breath did you allow the two of you separate.

You opened your eyes, noting humorously that actually ravaged Severus looked way better than the faux look from earlier, and giggled. At his questioning look, you decided not to tell him what you were thinking, instead saying the next thing to pop into your head.

“Is it weird to say that that was better than I ever imagined?”

In hindsight, that might have actually been worse to say. You had no chance to fret as he swung his head back, laughing loudly. Seeing how hard it made him laugh, and also being shaken around by said laughs, had you joining him in his joy. He calmed back down soon enough, pinning you with an intense stare.

“Something tells me I have some pretty big fantasy shoes to fill out.”

Meeting his gaze head-on, you leaned in to whisper, “You have no idea,” before recapturing his mouth with your own.

Later, as the sun began to set, tossing varying shades of orange and pink across the sky and over your forms as you kissed and swayed on the dance floor, you knew that you were going to be just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goooooooood, I finally finished it!!!! I just want to thank you all so so SO much for coming along with me on this journey.
> 
> Seriously, it’s all thanks to the love that each and every one of you has given me that actually pushed me into finishing a multi-chapter fic for the first time in literal YEARS.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed it, and I’ll see you guys in the next one! (Whenever that may be. :P)


End file.
